Fourth Circuit Slaps Government on Padilla?

SCOTUSBlog notes that the Fourth Circuit has, unusually, denied the government’s unopposed motion to transfer former enemy combatant Jose Padilla to civilian custody. Instead, it has ordered the government to brief the question of whether the Fourth Circuit should vacate its current judgment upholding Padilla’s detention as an enemy combatant in light of the new facts revealed by the government in Padilla’s civilian court indictment.

It is somewhat unclear what this means, although it probably isn’t good news for the Government’s effort to keep the Fourth Circuit panel opinion (which basically upholds the Government’s views) the law of the Fourth Circuit, thereby supporting its ability seize other enemy combatants in the future. Either way, Padilla will eventually be transferred. The only question is whether the Government will have to discard its enemy combatant theory (doubtful) or whether it will have to explain more about why it has changed Padilla’s designation.