‘Enemy combatant’ to face charges

WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court agreed Wednesday to let the Justice Department transfer “enemy combatant” Jose Padilla from military to civilian custody to face criminal charges.

The order, issued without a recorded vote or explanation, reverses a lower court effort to block the Bush administration from easily transferring Padilla as it shifts legal strategy in the three-year-old case. Wednesday’s high court action did not address a more significant pending question testing the president’s authority to designate certain suspects as enemy combatants and detain them indefinitely without charges.

“We’re pleased to be able to move forward with the criminal case,” Justice Department spokesman John Nowacki said. He declined to comment on the timing of the transfer. Jonathan Freiman, one of Padilla’s lawyers, said Padilla’s transfer should not affect the court’s decision whether to hear the larger question about the president’s power.

Padilla, a U.S. citizen, was arrested in 2002 at Chicago’s O’Hare Airport and accused of trying to detonate a “dirty bomb.” He was held without charges at a Navy prison in South Carolina.

On Nov. 22 as a crucial juncture in his Supreme Court challenge to his military detention was nearing, Padilla was indicted on federal charges of aiding suspected terrorist organizations abroad. Justice Department lawyers sought to transfer him to Miami where the charges were pending.

The indictment accused Padilla of participating in an eight-year conspiracy to funnel money and other materials for offensive actions in Bosnia, Egypt and Chechnya. The indictment did not refer to the government’s earlier accusation that Padilla had acquired materials for a radioactive explosive device.

The indictment came as the Justice Department faced a deadline at the Supreme Court to respond to arguments about Padilla’s detention as an uncharged enemy combatant. The department said that case would be moot.

However, on Dec. 21, a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit rejected the request to transfer Padilla and said the government’s action might risk its “credibility before the courts.”

The 4th Circuit’s order suggested the administration was “attempting to avoid” Supreme Court review of the president’s ability to designate “enemy combatants.” That appeals court earlier had endorsed the president’s power to hold such suspects.

U.S. Solicitor General Paul Clement argued that the lower court lacked the grounds to prevent Padilla’s transfer.