“The jury found Jose Padilla, the accused terrorist guilty. We should remember hiow the accusations were made and the evidence collected — and throw the verdict out:
“For nearly two years, Jose Padilla was denied all access to his lawyers, his family and the court system. The Bush administration claimed that he could be held without trial until the end of its “war on terror.” Allowing Padilla to talk to a lawyer or know that a court was considering his case, the government argued, would threaten national security. Meanwhile, the government was working to create a relationship of complete “dependency” between Padilla and his interrogators, who were busy trying to torture a confession out of him.
As court filings indicate, Padilla was allegedly subjected to sleep deprivation, stress positions and extreme temperatures. Worse, he was held without human contact, without a clock or even natural light — with no way to know how quickly or slowly time was passing. When he was removed from his cell to visit a dentist, goggles and earmuffs were placed on him. Psychologists have long reported that extreme sensory deprivation is one of the quickest ways to drive people mad — and make them willing to confess to anything….”
More at the Washingon Post.
Comment:
There has to be an appeal on the Padilla verdict. Look, the government found him guilty long before it tried him. Verdict first and trial later. That’s Looking Glass justice.
It’s time to take away the nonsense book from which the Bush administration is reading its jurisprudence. Let’s give them the US constitution again.
Lila Rajiva: The Mind-Body Politic 
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