“Resolved, That General Washington shall be, and he is hereby, vested with full, ample, and complete powers to . . . arrest and confine persons . . . who are disaffected to the American cause.”
– Resolution of the Continental Congress, 1776
Jose Padilla lost again. Padilla was the American accused of plotting a dirty bomb attack. He was detained and allegedly mistreated while in U.S. custody. While the Bush Administration originally sought to keep him out of civilian courts, it relented and eventually allowed Padilla a civilian trial. Padilla was found guilty of “conspiracy to support Islamic terrorism overseas” and was sentenced to 17 years in prison.
Jose Padilla at the Navy Consolidated Brig
Most recently, he filed a lawsuit against Defense Secretary Robert Gates, former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, and other Bush administration officials, alleging that they had violated his constitutional rights. But U.S. District Judge Richard Gergel dismissed his suit.
George Washington had plenty of experience with saboteurs. And he dealt with many of them ruthlessly. However, he acted differently depending upon the prisoner’s nationality. While British enemy combatants like John Andre were subject to the military’s discretion, Washington deferred to the civilian authorities when faced with an American like Joshua Hett Smith. While there are certainly arguments to be made that such cases were different than the norm since they dealt with spies rather than typical soldiers, the general messages seems clear :as the Commander in Chief, Washington believed he had great control over the fate of foreigners but not Americans.
It seems that Washington would likely have referred Padilla to the civilian authorities from the start. Would you?
Hi Logan,
Interesting point and question you raise here.
I would agree with General Washington. Padilla was not a member of the Armed Forces of the United States; although he conspired and attempted to do harm to Americans, he must not be considered an “enemy combatant” and therefore must be tried in a United States District Court.
I also do not believe the Rights of American Citizens under the Constitution of the United States should be conveyed upon NON-CITIZENS who conspire, attempt or succeed in doing harm to Americans. They should be treated a “foreign combatants” and MUST be treated as Prisoners and subject to the dictates of the Geneva Convention.
I am really enjoying your Blog and posts.
Thank you.