Appeals Court Slams Administration on Padilla Detention

Government's actions created the appearance "that the government may be attempting to avoid" Supreme Court review in a matter of "especial national importance."

[Judge Luttig] also suggested that the government's actions in the Padilla case may possibly have had negative consequences for "the public perception of the war on terror" and "also for the government's credibility before the courts in litigation ancillary to that war.

For "as the government must surely understand," it has left "the impression" that Padilla may have been held for these years "by mistake, an impression we would have thought the government could ill afford to leave extant."

Wow - AG office and Bush policies really slammed by a conservative judge who was on short list for the Supremes.

Tags: Luttig, Padilla,