Judged Fairly....
(Noteworthy e-mail received from Blake)
The Shoe Bomber

Remember the guy who got on a plane with a bomb built into his shoe
and tried to light it? His trial is over.

How much of this Judge's comments did you hear on TV?
Everyone should hear what the judge had to say.

Ruling by Judge William Young

U.S. District Court Judge William Young made the following statement in sentencing "shoe bomber" Richard Reid to prison. It is noteworthy, and deserves to be remembered far longer than he predicts. I commend it to you and to anyone you might wish to forward it to.

January 30, 2003 United States vs. Reid. Judge Young: Mr. Richard C.
Reid, hearken now to the sentence the Court imposes upon you.

On counts 1, 5 and 6 the Court sentences you to life in prison in the
custody of the United States Attorney General.

On counts 2, 3, 4 and 7, the Court sentences you to 20 years in prison
on each count, the sentence on each count to run consecutive with the
other. That's 80 years.

On count 8 the Court sentences you to the mandatory 30 years
consecutive to the 80 years just imposed. The Court imposes upon you
each of the eight counts a fine of $250,000 for the aggregate fine of
$2 million.

The Court accepts the government's recommendation with respect to
restitution and orders restitution in the amount of $298.17 to Andre
Bousquet and $5,784 to American Airlines.

The Court imposes upon you the $800 special assessment.

The Court imposes upon you five years supervised release simply because the law requires it. But the life sentences are real life sentences so I need go no further.

This is the sentence that is provided for by our statutes. It is a fair
and just sentence. It is a righteous sentence. Let me explain this to
you.

We are not afraid of any of your terrorist co-conspirators, Mr. Reid.
We are Americans. We have been through the fire before. There is all
too much war talk here. And I say that to everyone with the utmost
respect.

Here in this court , where we deal with individuals as individuals, and
care for individuals as individuals, as human beings we reach out for
justice, you are not an enemy combatant. You are a terrorist. You are
not a soldier in any war. You are a terrorist. To give you that
reference, to call you a soldier gives you far too much stature.
Whether it is the officers of government who do it or your attorney who
does it, or that happens to be your view, you are a terrorist.

And we do not negotiate with terrorists. We do not treat with
terrorists. We do not sign documents with terrorists. We hunt them down one by one and bring them to justice.

So war talk is way out of line in this court. You are a big fellow. But
you are not that big. You're no warrior. I know warriors. You are a
terrorist. A species of criminal guilty of multiple attempted murders.

In a very real sense Trooper Santigo had it right when you first were
taken off that plane and into custody and you wondered where the press
and where the TV crews were and he said you're no big deal. You're no
big deal.

What your counsel, what your able counsel and what the equally able
United States attorneys have grappled with and what I have as honestly
as I know how tried to grapple with, is why you did something so
horrific. What was it that led you here to this courtroom today? I have
listened respectfully to what you have to say. And I ask you to search
your heart and ask yourself what sort of unfathomable hate led you to
do what you are guilty and admit you are guilty of doing. And I have an
answer for you. It may not satisfy you. But as I search this entire
record it comes as close to understanding as I know.

It seems to me you hate the one thing that is most precious. You hate
our freedom. Our individual freedom. Our individual freedom to live as
we choose, to come and go as we choose, to believe or not believe as we
individually choose.

Here, in this society, the very winds carry freedom. They carry it
everywhere from sea to shining sea. It is because we prize individual
freedom so much that you are here in this beautiful courtroom. So that
everyone can see, truly see that justice is administered fairly,
individually, and discretely.

It is for freedom's sake that your lawyers are striving so vigorously
on your behalf and have filed appeals, will go on in their, their
representation of you before other judges. We are about it. Because we
all know that the way we treat you, Mr. Reid, is the measure of our own
liberties. Make no mistake though. It is yet true that we will bear any
burden, pay any price, to preserve our freedoms.

Look around this courtroom. Mark it well. The world is not going to
long remember what you or I say here. Day after tomorrow it will be
forgotten. But this, however, will long endure. Here in this courtroom
and courtrooms all across America, the American people will gather to see that justice, individual justice, justice, not war, individual justice is in fact being done.

The very President of the United States through his officers will have
to come into courtrooms and lay out evidence on which specific matters
can be judged, and juries of citizens will gather to sit and judge that
evidence democratically, to mold and shape and refine our sense of
justice.

See that flag, Mr. Reid? That's the flag of the United States of
America. That flag will fly there long after this is all forgotten.
That flag stands for freedom. You know it always will.

Custody Mr. Officer. Stand him down.

How much of this Judge's comments did you hear on our TV sets?

Please pass this around. Everyone needs to hear what the judge had to
say.