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June 12, 2012

Padilla Torture Appeal Rejected by Supreme Court 
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In a separate decision, the Supreme Court also rejected an appeal from
the former so-called "enemy combatant" Jose Padilla to reinstate a
lawsuit seeking to hold former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and
other officials responsible for Padilla's torture. Padilla was jailed
for 43 months without charge in a Navy brig in South Carolina and is now
serving a 17-year sentence. In denying Padilla's appeal, the court let
stand a federal appeals court ruling that his designation as an "enemy
combatant" precluded him from the right to sue for alleged violations of
constitutional rights, and that such cases are not entitled to judicial
review. In a statement, the American Civil Liberties Union said*: "The
Supreme Court’s refusal to consider Jose Padilla’s case leaves in
place a blank check for government officials to commit any abuse in the
name of national security, even the brutal torture of an American
citizen in an American prison."

 

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