YALE LAW PROFESSOR AKHIL AMAR has an interesting Q&A piece in The New Republic concerning the detention of “dirtybomber” Padilla / Al Muhajir. I’m not sure that I buy Akhil’s analogy between the draft and jury service as forms of “detention without trial” and the kind of detention that Al Muhajir faces. Both the draft and jury service have built-in safeguards against the government singling out people it dislikes in a way that the Al Muhajir confinement doesn’t.

And that’s the big risk. Fairness to individuals is important — but it’s no more important here than it is elsewhere in the criminal justice system. On the other hand, the danger that special government powers will be abused is far greater here, and thus we need some additional reassurances in this context. I’m not concerned with Al Muhajir, but I worry that such powers tend to expand over time, and I don’t like where I see things heading if that happens.