A friend sent me this. It's something everyone should read! I had never seen it and I doubt any of you have either.


Judge William Young deserves all of our respect for this narrative.

The Shoe Lace Bomb Terrorist - Judge's Ruling


Remember the guy 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/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 stated "I think I ought not apologize for my actions," and told the court "I am at war with your country."


Judge Young then delivered the statement quoted below, a stinging condemnation of Reid in particular and terrorists in general:



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

you or any of your terrorist coconspirators, 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, State Trooper

Santiago 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 arestriving so vigorously on

your behalf and have filed appeals, will go on in 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 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. 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 emocratically, 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.



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

__________________
"This is a time for a national imperative not to fail in Iraq." Condoleeza Rice, January 11, 2007