Moussaoui and Padilla Court Decisions

Two significant cases before the US courts had notable results today.

In the first, the case of "enemy combatant" Jose Padilla (background here), the Supreme Court by a split of 6-3 decided not to hear his appeal.

Six justices were sufficiently persuaded, at least for the time being, that Mr. Padilla's appeal is moot, since he was transferred from military custody to a civilian jail several months ago and is to go on trial.

In other words, the Bush administration side stepped having the Supremes decide the constitutionality of its handing of "enemy combatants" by moving Padilla's case to a civilian court at the last minute.

The three dissenters were Justices Bader Ginsburg, Souter and Bryer.

Ginsburg wrote:

Justice Ginsburg said the underlying issues are "of profound importance to the nation," and that it was high time the court ruled on the executive branch's power to hold a United States citizen after declaring him an "enemy combatant."

"Although the government has recently lodged charges against Padilla in a civilian court, nothing prevents the executive from returning to the road it earlier constructed and defended," Justice Ginsburg wrote.

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In the second case, that of Zacharias Moussaoui the jury delivered a verdict today that would allow the court to seek the death penalty. Reaction from some 9/11 family members has been mixed with one woman stating to CNN's Wolf Blitzer that she did not want Moussaoui to be executed because he would then be seen as a martyr for al Quaeda's cause and would have the ability to mount numerous appeals that could take years.

Phase two of the trial begins on Thursday with the same jury.