BREAKING: CONSERVATIVE COURT SLAMS WHITE HOUSE IN PADILLIA CASE

This is really something. The Judiciary is now in revolt against the Bush Administration. First a Federal Judge resigns in protest over the domestic spying, now this. A conservative court, one of the administrations closest allies in the nation, has slammed the Bush team in shockingly harsh tones. One of the critics was on the short list for Bush's Supreme Court picks.

A U.S. appeals court, acting in the case of alleged "enemy combatant" Jose Padilla, today rejected the administration's move to avoid another Supreme Court review of its powers of detention, blasting the government in unusually blunt terms for its behavior in the case.

Today, the panel rejected both requests in an opinion written by J. Michael Luttig, a conservative often mentioned on the administration's short list for the U.S. Supreme Court. The appeals court opinion reflected a tone of anger that is rare for a federal court addressing the United States government, particularly in a matter of presidential authority.

Luttig said the government's actions created the appearance "that the government may be attempting to avoid" Supreme Court review in a matter of "especial national importance." He also suggested that the government's actions in the Padilla case may possibly have had negative consequences for "the public perception of the war on terror" and "also for the government's credibility before the courts in litigation ancillary to that war.

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