King George: Bush administration is ordered to release U.S. citizen held as an enemy combatant

U.S. is ordered to release U.S. citizen held as an enemy combatant: "U.S. is ordered to release U.S. citizen held as an enemy combatant | By Neil A. Lewis | The New York Times | 03/01/05 'IHT' - -

WASHINGTON A federal district judge in South Carolina has ruled that President George W. Bush greatly overstepped his authority by detaining a U.S. citizen as an enemy combatant for nearly three years without filing criminal charges.

The judge, Henry Floyd, said Monday that the government must release the American, Jose Padilla, within 45 days from the military brig in Charleston, South Carolina, where he has been held since June 2002. That left the Bush administration time to appeal, and a Justice Department spokesman, John Nowacki, said officials immediately decided to do so.

In his opinion, Floyd sharply criticized the administration's use of the designation of enemy combatant in Padilla's case.

'The court finds that the president has no power, neither express nor implied, neither constitutional nor statutory, to hold petitioner as an enemy combatant,' Floyd wrote." ...