War on Terror Supplement

Christopher J. Enge

©2005

 

Chapter 10 deals with the government’s power to enforce the law.  Chiefly your book concentrates on the surveillance and intrusions on liberty necessary to discover law breakers and punish them.  You have read several good examples of how courts balance the right of an individual to be left alone against society’s right to protect itself.

 

The articles and cases in the book all predate September 11, 2001.  The balance has shifted heavily in favor of law enforcement and prosecution of the war on terror.

 

The Jose Padilla case deals with the authority of the Executive Branch to prosecute the War on Terror and al Qaeda.  The government claims Mr. Padilla tried to enter the U.S. after being trained by and serving with al Qaeda in Afghanistan against U.S. forces.  The government also accuses him of flying to O’Hare Airport in Chicago with the intent to commit terrorist acts, such as blowing up apartment buildings.  The government arrested him at the airport in Chicago, declared him an “enemy combatant,” and transferred him to the Marine base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

 

The catch is that Padilla is an American citizen.  Is he entitled to demand that charges be brought against him?  Does he have a right to counsel?  Does he have the right to trial?

 

Please read the case.  The link is Padilla v. Hanft.