Jose Padilla has been convicted of conspiracy.

That’s it? That’s the best they could do? They imprisoned this American citizen for 3.5 years without access to an attorney and without charges. The used sensory and sleep deprivation to turn him into a shambling wreck of a human being. And in the end, they convicted him of something they could have charged him with the day he was arrested.

And so it goes.

So what was the point of raping his civil rights? What was the point of treating him like a second-class citizen? Why do we need secret trials if this conviction was so easy to get?

Expect Bush’s supporters — his few remaning supporters — to crow about this. I can just hear Limbaugh now: “See, you libs! We gave him a fair trial and he was convicted!” But this is a tragedy. The civil rights of all Americans were trampled for nothing.

More from Sully here.