Fed court reverses order for VA system overhaul

A federal appeals court on Monday reversed its demand that the Veterans Affairs Department dramatically overhaul its mental health care system.

A special 11-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said that any such changes need to be ordered by Congress or the president.

The 10-1 ruling reversed an earlier decision by a three-judge panel of the same court.

The May 2011 ruling had ordered the VA to ensure that suicidal vets are seen immediately, among other changes. It found the VA's "unchecked incompetence" in handling the flood of post-traumatic stress disorder and other mental health claims was unconstitutional.

The new decision said courts are powerless to implement the fixes sought by two veterans groups that filed the lawsuit against the VA in 2007. The lawsuits alleged that hundreds of thousands of veterans had to wait an average of four years to fully receive the mental health benefits owed them.

Padilla asks US Supreme Court to reinstate lawsuit

A man held for years as an "enemy combatant" is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to reinstate a lawsuit accusing former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and other government officials of torturing him in a South Carolina military prison.

The American Civil Liberties Union is representing Jose Padilla in his appeal of a decision of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which ruled in January that Congress, not the court system, has jurisdiction over military detention cases.

The appellate panel also found the judiciary should defer to Congress and the executive branch in cases such as Padilla's because litigation could potentially compromise military operations and national security issues.

Padilla had argued that he was entitled to sue Rumsfeld, current Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, former brig commander Catherine T. Hanft and several other officials because the government deprived him of other ways to seek remedies for his treatment, even under military code. He also argued that Congress never specifically barred civilian U.S. citizens deemed "enemy combatants" from pursuing civil actions, as it did for non-citizens.