Friday, May 20, 2005

Judge William Young

I found this post at Babblings.

Powerful.

In December of 2003, Richard Reid, the man who admitted to trying to blow up a U.S. jetliner with explosives in his shoes, better known as "The Shoe Bomber", was sentenced to life in prison by Judge William Young. As he was dragged out of the courtroom, Richard Reid began yelling at Judge Young, repeating his allegiance to Osama bin Laden saying, "I'm at war with your country not for personal reasons but because you have killed so many innocents, so many children. ... My fate is in Allah's hands. ... I leave you to judge."

Here is the actual transcript of the exchange between Judge Young and Mr. Reid:

RICHARD REID: I start by praising Allah because life today is no good. I bear witness to this and he alone is right to be worshiped. And I bear witness that Muhammad Sa'laat Alayhi as-Salaam is his last prophet and messenger who is sent to all of mankind for guidance, with the sound guidance for everyone.

Concerning what the Court said? I admit, I admit my actions and I further, I further state that I done them.

JUDGE WILLIAM YOUNG: I didn't hear the last. I admit my actions and then what did you say?

REID: I further admit my allegiance to Osama bin Laden, to Islam, and to the religion of Allah. With regards to what you said about killing innocent people, I will say one thing. Your government has killed 2 million children in Iraq. If you want to think about something, against 2 million, I don't see no comparison.

Your government has sponsored the rape and torture of Muslims in the prisons of Egypt and Turkey and Syria and Jordan with their money and with their weapons. I don't know, see what I done as being equal to rape and to torture, or to the deaths of the two million children in Iraq.

So, for this reason, I think I ought not apologize for my actions. I am at war with your country. I'm at war with them not for personal reasons but because they have murdered more than, so many children and they have oppressed my religion and they have oppressed people for no reason except that they say we believe in Allah.

This is the only reason that America sponsors Egypt. It's the only reason they sponsor Turkey. It's the only reason they back Israel.

As far as the sentence is concerned, it's in your hand. Only really it is not even in your hand. It's in Allah's hand. I put my trust in Allah totally and I know that he will give victory to his religion. And he will give victory to those who believe and he will destroy those who wish to oppress the people because they believe in Allah.

So you can judge and I leave you to judge. And I don't mind. This is all I have to say. And I bear witness to Muhammad this is Allah's message.

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 one 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 on 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 not go any further.

This is the sentence that is provided for by our statutes. It is a fair and a 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're a big fellow. But you're 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 Santiago had it right when first you 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 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 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 care 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 still stands for freedom. You know it always will. Custody, Mr. Officer. Stand him down.

REID: That flag will be brought down on the Day of Judgment and you will see in front of your Lord and my Lord and then we will know. (Whereupon the defendant was removed from the courtroom.)

YOUNG: We'll recess. All rise.

To Filibuster or Not to Filibuster

I am a Republican and proud of it. But I must admit that it really saddens me that this nation which I love so much is at such odds over politics. I think that we ALL tend to forget that as Americans, we should be proud and grateful that we live in a country of such great diversity. Our forefathers fought for each and every American, past and present, to have the right to his or her own beliefs and that we should respect each other's RIGHT to those beliefs.


So should my fellow Republicans in Congress stop the practice of filibuster - no. By doing so, yes, it would end the gridlock that has plagued our government. However at the same time, they would be abolishing just one of many checks and balances that is in place to prevent one political party from steamrolling the other. It would aid Republicans to usher through the judicial nominees, but mark my words, if this goes through, it's going to come back and bite the party in the butt!

From Common Cause - Holding Power Accountable

"The filibuster has a long history in the Senate of fending off actions supported by a bare majority, but deeply offensive to the minority. If an individual senator were to abuse the privilege of the filibuster, he or she could be over overridden by a super majority of 60 votes.

To remove a long-standing parliamentary maneuver to serve immediate partisan goals violates core democratic values and is an anathema to the Senate's long standing commitment to consensus and a bipartisan deliberative process.

It is wrong to jettison a longtime Senate procedure simply because it is inconvenient to one party’s goals. It is an abuse of power to strip the Senate minority of a tool designed to protect its rights – rights both parties have vociferously defended throughout the Senate’s history".

Thursday, May 19, 2005

Living in the Shadows

When I was in Antigua, Guatemala a few weeks ago, we encountered a very sad situation with some Mayan children from high in the mountains suffering from a severe skin condition called Xeroderma Pigmentosum. These children cannot repair their skin after exposure to UV light and have skin cancers as a result. They usually only survive until about age 14.

There is a geneticist in Guatemala City working with the village, but there really isn't much to do to help them. These poor children live with the pain of skin ulcers daily and some are blind. The Aldara Cream that helps alleviate some of the skin irritation is very expensive - some of our mission team members purchsed a four month supply for the village children, and it cost $300. Unfortunately, this cream doesn't cure the disease.

There is no cure.

The treatment is to stay out of the sun - pretty difficult to do when you're poor in Central America.

If you want to help, go to the XP Society Guatemala Project site - there is a list of items that are needed and an address where to send supplies or funding.

Patient support: To make a donation for research and U.S. programs, contact the XP Society, 437 Snydertown Road, Craryville, NY 12521; telephone or fax, (518) 851-2612, or toll-free (within the United States) (877) XPS CURE or (877) 977-2873

Guatemala project: To make a donation, contact Good Samaritan International, P.O. Box 1622, Sultan, WA 98294; IRS employer identification number, 13-4234349, application on file for tax-exempt nonprofit, 501(c)(3), status; telephone, (425) 232-8932; fax, (360) 793-7549; samaritanos@aol.com.

Faith in Practice is the organization I go to Guatemala with.

And Then There Were Two

How does everyone feel about Bo and Carrie being the finalists on American Idol? I definately think that the voters did the right thing this season - after all, they are both better singers than the past idols.

I wish all of the contestants luck and can't wait until Bo's rock album and Carrie's country album hit the stores.

Wednesday, May 18, 2005

Welcome

to my web blog. I hope you find something of interest here.

Please visit my webpage and photosite. I have tons of pictures from here in Colorado, my mission trips to Ecuador and Guatemala, and my vacation to Greece.

I have tons of genealogy links on my genealogy pages site - lots of resources and web sites to help you in your quest for knowledge.