By Libby
I can't say I'm surprised, but I'm really disappointed that the jury found Padilla guilty. I suppose they were constrained by the rules of evidence and probably didn't have much of a choice since Padilla is far too damaged from three years of torture while in US custody to meaningfully assist in his own defense, but in no way was justice served by this verdict.
If there was any justice left in the system, it would have been the Bush administration on trial for violating Padilla's rights as an American citizen and as a human being. What really bothers me about the verdict though is that this will only embolden the White House to further abridge all our civil rights. They violated every rule of human decency and twisted the rule of law into a hideous contortion that bears no resemblence to our Founder's vision of a fair judicial system. And they got away with it.
One might hope this travesty will be reversed on appeal, but since Padilla lives inside the wrong color skin, I'm not holding my breath waiting for that to happen.
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