The rights of U.S. citizens mean nothing during war.

That’s the essential message of the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals in the case of Jose Padilla. On Friday, the court ruled that the president can indefinitely detain an American citizen arrested on U.S. soil.

Criminal charges aren’t necessary. A trial isn’t necessary. All the president has to do is determine that someone is a threat to national security, and away that person goes to jail, maybe forever.

Jose Padilla won’t win any awards as a humanitarian. He’s a former gang member from Chicago who’s accused of training with al-Qaida. U.S. authorities say he was planning to blow up an apartment building when he was arrested. And he presents a particular dilemma for the government. A criminal trial could expose the way the nation’s anti-terrorism operatives gather information. Almost everyone would agree that if Padilla really is associated with al-Qaida, then the country is better off with him behind bars.

But our system of laws demands that U.S. citizens have certain inalienable rights that, among other things, protect them from being jailed without a trial or the opportunity to face their accusers. In the United States, a person can’t just be thrown in jail to rot – or at least he couldn’t before the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

Padilla has been in custody for three years, without a means to challenge his detention. Congress has ignored the issue of extralegal detentions for too long. Instead of forcing the courts to extrapolate what Congress meant when it gave the president the power to fight the “war on terror,” lawmakers should address, in law, which protections are due to U.S. citizens – and foreign nationals – who are accused of being enemies of the state.

Just because the president or the military says someone is a threat doesn’t make it so. Every year, people are freed from death row or released from prison after being jailed for crimes they did not commit. Mistakes happen even when an accused person has the protection of lawyers and juries. Imagine the margin of error when no one has the ability to challenge the government’s assertions.

Jose Padilla may be a terrorist. The government maintains that he is. But he’s also a United States citizen, and that still means something. He doesn’t have to earn the protection of the law. It’s his birthright.