The verdict on the Jose Padilla case has arrived - 17 years and 4 months in prison for his conspiracy case. Because he was not handed a life sentence, the verdict has been called a "setback" for the Bush administration....although in any respect, it is a grave and debatably unfounded legal result for a case in which even presiding Judge Marcia G. Cooke admitted that there was no evidence linking Mr. Padilla and two co-defendants to specific terrorism acts anywhere...

“There is no evidence that these defendants personally maimed, kidnapped or killed anyone in the United States or elsewhere,” Judge Cooke said. “There was never a plot to overthrow the United States government.”

Read the full New York Times article for a review of the decision, including a history of Padilla's "enemy combatant" case and the alleged torture he endured during interrogation.