Excerpts from a related article (emphasis added):
http://www.time.com/time/nation/prin...262065,00.html
How long can you detain a U.S. citizen?
But as someone who was arrested well outside a "war zone" (as defined by traditional rules of war, anyway) should Padilla be treated as a suspected criminal? Douglas Cassel, director of the Center for International Human Rights at Northwestern University Law School, thinks so. "Charges should be brought, a trial should be scheduled, and he should be allowed to see a lawyer," Cassel says.
"They're maintaining they can hold him for the duration of the war on terror — which could easily be years, or even decades — without ever charging him with a crime."
...
So how will the U.S. deal with Padilla? What are the legal options? Monday
Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz told reporters the government would consider trying Padilla in the federal system, but that assessment has not been seconded from higher up the chain of command. Alternately, Padilla could be tried by a military tribunal. But that option would require some backtracking at the White House. When the Bush administration established guidelines for military tribunals last November, they stipulated that no American citizen would be subject to trial by that method.
In my county, you cannot complete a history course without learning about Camp Howze, where German "POWs" were detained, many without any links to our enemies other than ethnicity.
http://www.eastmill.com/103rd/Kens%2...camphowze.html
I agree Padilla should be detained. However, I see the value of the argument.