The info below is validated at http://www.snopes.com/politics/soapbox/shoebomb.asp

Any comments from the Australian judiciary?

It was a good job that this bloke was tried in the US - In Australia he might have got 14 years, with the possibility of appealing, and then god knows what might have happened. Particularly when you consider what the US Judge has to say to him - it would not be allowed in Australia... What a state we appear to be in...!

Remember the bloke who got on a plane with a bomb built into his shoe and tried to ignite 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 (Especially Australian judges & politicians!).

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:

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 Australian 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 and make sound sense.

wow we didnt see/hear that over the ditch either.

He should of added
bacon for breakfast
Ham for lunch
Pork for dinner

Hear hear

dhc4ever wrote:

He should of added bacon for breakfast Ham for lunch Pork for dinner

I have to say one thing about this not being aired in the media. It leaves no room for argument and discussion that might lead to bolstering his cause. Not that anything said in the article could even come close to bolstering his cause, but our media has a tendancy to want to emphasize the negative and lay flat any reasonable, just and sound arguments for the positive. Maybe it's better that we silently appreciate our justice system without allowing for a full blown media dismantlement of it.

It used to tear me up when the terrorism plots were first aired on the news because the news media would only feed the terrorists more ideas for more terrorism. They would discuss on national news how vulnerable our rail system, our water system, our nuclear system was and how we need to better protect our infrastucture, because here's all they have to do. Like they need more fodder for their frenzie. It's not a discussion to openly aire and it's not news reporting, it's speculation that incites and is equally terroristic by nature. Since when is news reporting an open discussion between air-headed reporters that have one thing in mind, and that's only to bolster their ratings. National security needs to start with our unrestrained idea of news discussion instead of news reporting.

It is certainly nice to know the guy was well taken care of tho....he'll never see daylight again.

Sage words Suz. The media have a lot to answer for after the last 20 years or so as a result of their "ratings hunt frenzy".

He should be hung by the neck until dead, rather than fed & housed for the rest of his natural life.