] The Defense Department announced Wednesday it has decided ] to grant "dirty bomb" suspect Jose Padilla access to a ] lawyer "subject to appropriate security restrictions." ] ] The FBI arrested Padilla in Chicago, Illinois, in May of ] 2002 on suspicion of being part of a plot to detonate a ] so-called dirty bomb. He was designated an "enemy ] combatant" by President Bush a month later and was ] transferred to the military brig in Charleston, South ] Carolina, in June. ] ] He has been held there ever since and has not had access ] to any legal counsel or been formally charged. Nice. A U.S. citizen is finally getting due process of law (well, "conditionally" FWIW) after being incarcerated for nearly 2 years? And I suppose its *purely coincidental* that this is happening in an election year too. Of course this isnt an effort to soften Bush and Ashcrofts Gestapo image. LB 'Dirty bomb' suspect gets conditional lawyer access |