An email came to me from a friend, with some words about the conviction and sentencing of the "shoe Bomber"
I thought I would share it with you.......
" Ruling by Judge William Young, US District Court.
Prior to sentencing, the Judge asked the defendant if he had anything
to say His response: After admitting his guilt to the court for the
record, Reid also admitted his 'allegiance to
Osama bin Laden, to Islam, and to the religion of Allah,' defiantly
stating, 'I think I will not apologise for my actions,' and told the
court 'I am at war with your country.'
Judge Young then delivered the statement quoted below:
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 consecutively. (That's 80 years.)
On count 8 the Court sentences you to the mandatory 30 years again, to
be served consecutively to the 80 years just imposed. The Court
imposes upon you for each of the eight counts a fine of $250,000
that's an 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 an $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.
Now, let me explain this to you. We are not afraid of you or any of
your terrorist co-conspirators, Mr. Reid. We are Americans. We have
been through the fire before. There is too much war talk here and I
say that to everyone with the utmost respect. Here in this court, 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 the
officers of government do it or your attorney does it, or if you think
you are a soldier, you are not-----, you are a terrorist. And we do
not negotiate with terrorists. We do not meet 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've known warriors.
You are a terrorist. A species of criminal that is guilty of multiple
attempted murders. In a very real sense, State Trooper Santiago had
it right when you first were taken off that plane and into custody and
you wondered where the press and the TV crews were, and he said:
'You're no big deal. '
You are no big deal.
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 to us 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
wind carries freedom. It carries 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, have filed appeals, will go on in their representation of
you before other judges.
We Americans are all about freedom. 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.
The 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. And it always will.
Mr. Custody Officer. Stand him down ".......
So, how much of this Judge's comments did we hear on our TV sets? We
need more judges like Judge Young. Pass this around. Everyone should
and needs to hear what this fine judge had to say. Powerful words that
strike home.
