One step forward, one step back

Appeals Court Stays Order To Free Padilla - Washington Post, January 23.

In December, the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the president does not have the authority to detain an Jose Padilla, an American citizen seized on American soil, as an "enemy combatant." It ordered that he be criminally charged or released within 30 days.

DOJ appealed to the Supreme Court, which has agreed to hear the case, and asked the lower court to stay its order pending the outcome of that appeal. The court has now agreed.

While such a stay is not, as I understand it, particularly unusual and this doesn't mean the court has in any way backed off its finding, it does mean that Padilla will remain locked up in a military jail for at least several more months since its unlikely that the Supreme Court will hear arguments and issue a ruling in less time.