And from another courtroom and more to the topic:
Remember the guy terrorist who got on a plane with a bomb built into his shoe
> and tried to light it?
>
>
>
> Did you know his trial is over?
> Did you know he was sentenced?
> Did you see/hear any of the judge's comments on TV or Radio?
>
>
>
> Didn't think so.
>
>
>
> Everyone should hear what the judge had to say.
>
>
>
> 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 apologize for my actions," and
> told the court "I am at war with your country."
>
>
>
> Judge Young then delivered the statement quoted below:
>
>
>
> 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 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 of 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 bare 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, but that's another subject. Pass this around.
> Everyone should and needs to hear what this fine judge had to say. Powerful
> words that strike home. God bless America
>
>
