Bush Overreached Powers, Court Says

A federal appeals court ruled Thursday that President Bush does not have the power to declare an American citizen seized on U.S. soil an "enemy combatant" and hold him indefinitely in military custody.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit, in a 2 to 1 ruling, gave the administration 30 days to release Jose Padilla, who allegedly plotted to explode a radioactive "dirty bomb." He has been confined to a South Carolina brig without access to an attorney for 19 months.

el - Richard F***ing Perle said the man was crazy and not dangerous. This was the most outrageous unconstitutional case in years. Conservatives have a big yellow streak down their backs and overreact to anything that doesn't affect them, their friends, and business partners.

Thursday's ruling constitutes one of the strongest judicial rebukes of the administration's tactics in the war on terrorism -- in this case, its policy of aggressively detaining suspects without formal charges and without access to lawyers or their families.

Also Thursday, a federal appeals court in California ruled that a detainee at the U.S. naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, should be granted a court hearing, and held open that possibility for all 660 alleged al Qaeda and Taliban fighters there.