JURIST - Paper Chase: Padilla granted habeas corpus

[JURIST] A federal judge in South Carolina Monday granted a motion for a writ of habeas corpus [JURIST report] for Jose Padilla [BBC profile], giving the Bush administration 45 days to either charge the terror suspect with a crime or set him free. In detaining Padilla for more than two years as an "enemy combatant", the government has maintained that he was planning a "dirty bomb" attack against the US. Judge Henry Floyd of the US District Court for the District of South Carolina issued a 23-page ruling [PDF] finding that the detention is not permissible, and that the President does not have the power, either express or implied, to hold Padilla indefinitely without bringing charges. The Bush administration will appeal the decision to the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. AP has more.

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