Court Rules in Terrorism Case
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: A major ruling came down today in the case of another U.S. citizen suspected in a terrorism plot. It gives government the green light now to hold Jose Padilla indefinitely as an enemy combatant. The government says he was part of an alleged plan to set off a so-called dirty bomb somewhere in the U.S. CNN's Deborah Feyerick joins me now live from New York with more -- Deb.</s>DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, there's been a big question about the status of enemy combatants, especially those who are United States citizens. Well, this morning, a federal judge gave President Bush or said President Bush has the legal and constitutional right to order the military to hold people as enemy combatants. Jose Padilla is a U.S. citizen. He's a former Chicago gang member. He was accused by Attorney General John Ashcroft of plotting to blow up a radioactive bomb in the United States. No formal charges against him were ever filed, and he's been held incommunicado since June when he was tossed into a Navy brig in South Carolina. Well, the judge said that that detention is perfectly legal. The government did suffer a blow on one front. The judge said that while Padilla is being held, even though he's an enemy combatant, he can meet with his lawyers. He hasn't seen them since he was tossed into that military jail. Prosecutors were concerned he might try to pass on secret information, but his lawyers said that he's been in solitary confinement for so long, the only thing he could tell al Qaeda is how to sleep with the lights on. His attorney said that she was happy that she'll now be able to visit him, and arrangements are going to be made at the end of the month to determine what the conditions are of those visits. Without going into details, the lawyer said that there are other issues in the judge's opinion that she's going to have to consider. The government wanted to move the case to South Carolina where Padilla is being held, but the judge said no it stays here in New York's jurisdiction -- Kyra.</s>PHILLIPS: Deb, once again, sort of refresh our memories on the evidence that does exist, that justifies Padilla as an enemy combatant.</s>FEYERICK: That's one of the very big questions. There isn't a whole lot of evidence. Back in May, there was a dramatic announcement from the attorney general, saying that Padilla was involved in a plot to detonate some sort of a radioactive device here in the United States. The attorney general then sort of began to back away from that. And it was never clear exactly what evidence the government had against him. And so when he was sort of removed from the federal system and put into the military system, nobody got access to anything about what evidence the government did have against him. So that was the big question. Because once you're an enemy combatant, you really don't need the same standard of proof that the government would need if it were in the regular court jurisdiction.</s>PHILLIPS: All right, live from New York, Deborah Feyerick, thank you so much.