High-ranking government officials cannot be punished
Ed Brayton is succinct and correct:
The ACLU has filed an appeal with the 4th Circuit in Padilla v. Ashcroft. This is the case filed by Jose Padilla against former Attorney General John Ashcroft for authorizing his detention and abuse in prison without any due process. The district court ruled that Ashcroft had qualified immunity, an absolutely absurd conclusion. Qualified immunity is overcome if it can be shown that the official actions taken violated a clearly established right.
What right could possibly be more clearly established than that the government cannot arrest someone and hold them in prison for two years without ever charging them or allowing them to speak to an attorney? This is not a close case and the district court blew it. Unfortunately, I expect the appeals court to do the same thing — because lawless high-ranking government officials don’t get punished for violating the constitution anymore.
The U.S. has changed a lot.
