Bill of Rights? What Bill of Rights?

Since Jose Padilla, an American citizen, was first arrested in May of 2002 in a Chicago airport, I have been following his case, like many others, with a combination of astonishment, disgust and outrage. Those who have read my past writings about him will recall that he was detained in a military brig from 2002 until January 2006 and denied all of his constitutional rights (due process, habeas corpus, etc) without being charged with any crime. Government officials first claimed to have evidence that he was involved in a plot to detonate a "dirty bomb" on American soil, but to this day have presented no evidence supporting that charge.

After being illegally detained and interrogated for years, Padilla was transferred from military custody and charged with terrorism-related crimes unrelated to the initial alleged "dirty bomb" plot -- a tacit admission by the Bush administration that the initial charge was a total fabrication. Since Padilla was charged, his case has been progressing through the courts until March 23 of this year, when Judge Marcia Cooke denied a motion by Padilla to dismiss the case, a motion filed on the grounds that he had been denied his constitutional right to a speedy trial.

From the time when he was detained (May 2002) to the time his trial will begin (April 16 2007), Padilla was detained in blatant violation of numerous constitutional rights for almost 5 years, however Judge Cooke determined that Padilla had in fact not been denied his right to a speedy trial because that right did not exist until he was charged with a crime in January 2006. In the disgusting, outrageous reasoning of this feeble-minded judge, the illegal detention of an American citizen without charge for almost 4 years is not only acceptable, it actually excuses the further violation of that person's right to a speedy trial.

To help this pathetic atrocity of a human being and sad excuse for a judge understand the stupidity of her decision, I will remind her of the following excerpts from the highest law of the land, the constitution, which binds absolutely every action of the government:

First, there is the right, explicitly spelled out in the Sixth Amendment to the Constitution, that anyone held by the government has an inviolable right "to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation." This means that the government is legally required to charge someone with a crime in order to detain them. There is no question that the Bush administration willfully failed to charge Padilla with a crime, and thus violated this right.

Also from the Sixth Amendment, there is explicitly stated the inviolable right that "the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial." This means, of course, that a person cannot be held without the presentation of evidence in a court of law for an unreasonable amount of time. There is absolutely no question that the years Padilla was held without trial amount to a grievous violation of this right.

Since both our tyrannical President and our utterly worthless courts seem not only unwilling to protect our fundamental rights but intent on actively violating them, one can only hope the American people will begin to awaken to the danger posed by such out-of-control government. For virtually every day this "War on Terror" continues there is a new assault on our basic freedoms, and it seems the American people are either too apathetic or too ignorant of what is happening to demand a halt to such tyranny. Sooner or later, people will realize what they have allowed to grow around them -- hopefully that realization will come before every freedom we hold dear has been wrenched from us.