U.S. citizenship

What does U.S. citizenship mean, exactly, when the government can hold a citizen, Jose Padilla, in solitary confinement for years without charges? Not to mention what the government does to non-citizens. Oh, and note that as has happened in the past, the serious charges against Padilla, which showed up all over TV in administration soundbites, are no where to be found in the actual indictment of Padilla.

[From the article]
"Mr. Padilla’s situation, as an American declared an enemy combatant and held without charges by his own government, was extraordinary and the conditions of his detention appear to have been unprecedented in the military justice system.

Philip D. Cave, a former judge advocate general for the Navy and now a lawyer specializing in military law, said, “There’s nothing comparable in terms of severity of confinement, in terms of how Padilla was held, especially considering that this was pretrial confinement.”"