Shoe Bomber Challenges Prison Rules

fox ^ | 8-19-04

[PinnedAndRecessed]

DENVER — Al Qaeda member and Florence prison inmate Richard Reid has moved his court challenge of federal prison rules to Denver.

Reid is serving a life sentence for trying to blow up an airplane with explosives hidden in his shoes in 2001. The Justice Department has imposed restrictions on Reid and other terrorism-related prisoners they consider a threat to national security.

In a handwritten lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Denver last week, Reid wrote he has been kept in isolation in a cell with a window that does not let him see outside, and that his mail is inspected by authorities.

He said he has been denied access to religious materials, books, classes and correspondence courses, some television and radio stations, prison jobs, telephone calls with his aunts and uncles, daily showers, and his subscription to Time magazine.

Prosecutors say such restrictions are necessary because Al Qaeda members sometimes communicate through coded messages, but Reid and two other Florence inmates with suspected ties to Al Qaeda have filed court challenges saying too many of their rights have been restricted.

None of the cases has resulted in changes so far.

Reid originally filed a complaint in Boston to receive uncensored copies of Time, but a federal appeals court there said in May that it would not resolve the matter because Reid was being held in Colorado.

[76834]

He said he has been denied access to religious materials, books, classes and correspondence courses, some television and radio stations, prison jobs, telephone calls with his aunts and uncles, daily showers, and his subscription to Time magazine

I wonder why he thinks he needs all this stuff, he aint going anywhere it will do him any good!!
I would grant him a "prison job" tho, making little rocks out of big ones the old fashioned way.
Or maybe better, total isolation with a TV that only plays the most obnoxious Barney cartoon, loop it and let it run 24/7 FOREVER.
For food, one small can of Spam per day. Nothing else just Spam. Also FOREVER.....

Like Hank Williams sang it, "I'll be locked here in this cell till my body's just a shell....."

[Former Proud Canadian]

This guy attempted mass murder as part of a world (religious) war against the US and the rest of the western world. He was a soldier of islam. A soldier without a uniform who was trying to attack the enemy, us. In a less PC time he would have been quickly tried by a military tribunal, lined up against a wall and shot. Or perhaps just subjected to summary execution.

He shouldn't even be alive to file a suit.

[PinnedAndRecessed]

Thanx for an excellent post.

I saved it for my archives.

[cardinal4]

Some of Reids new playmates:

- -- THEODORE KACZYNSKI, 56, the Unabomber, serving four consecutive life sentences.

- -- TIMOTHY McVEIGH, 30, sentenced to death for the 1995 bombing of the Oklahoma City federal building which killed 168 people. EXECUTED

- -- TERRY NICHOLS, 43, McVeigh's accomplice, is now serving life in prison.

- -- CHARLES HARRELSON, 59, the father of actor Woody Harrelson, is serving two life sentences for the murder of a federal judge.

- -- RAYMOND LUC LEVASSEUR, 51, member of a U.S. radical group, serving 40 years for bombing buildings and attempted bombings in the 1970s.

- -- EYAD ISMOIL, 27, serving 240 years for driving the rental van holding the bomb in the World Trade Center attack.

- -- YU KIKUMURA, 46, Japanese Red Army terrorist, serving 30 years for transporting bombs in preparation for an attack on a Navy recruiting center.

- -- LUIS FELIPE, 35, leader of New York's Latin Kings gang, who ordered the murders of six gang members from his jail cell and is serving a life sentence.

- -- RODNEY HAMBRICK, 33, serving a 68-year sentence on bomb charges.

I believe Ramsi Yousef is also there as was Gotti before he croaked..

[LibertarianLiz]

Reid wrote he has been kept in isolation in a cell with a window that does not let him see outside, and that his mail is inspected by authorities.

IOWs, he is in PRISON!. Has anyone tried to explain to this "Einstein" that this is what happens to you when you try to blow up a plane filled with innocent people?

[wireplay]

Florence is just south of where I live. It is considered end of the line in the SuperMax chain of prisons. All of the worst go here. It is not only 23 hour lockdown, but you can only use your own 'yard' which is plexiglass sealed. I've heard that the best you can hope for is to see a bird overhead because the prison is mostly underground with only a sliver of light at times.

Good riddance. No one who goes to SuperMax Colorado is innocent. It's a whos who of bad guys.

[chainsaw]

Reid had better start being a better prisoner. Inmates have a way of straightening out belligerent cell mates.

[wireplay]

And I believe that Noriega is there as well.

[wireplay]

My understanding is that only 1 inmate is allowed out of a cell at any given time and that 2 guns are trained on that inmate at all times. They even put a court room and medical facilities in the prison so you are never transported out.
All furniture (including bed) is made of concrete and there are no metal objects anywhere in a cell, not even in the concrete.

Its a roach motel...they check in but they don't check out.

[happygrl]

Thanks for posting that.

I still get a thrill when I read it!

An honorable, patriot judge.

[Mad_Tom_Rackham]

They should give him a pet pig to keep him company.

What did the pig ever do to deserve such cruelty?

[lowbridge]

He said he has been denied access to religious materials, books, classes and correspondence courses, some television and radio stations, prison jobs, telephone calls with his aunts and uncles, daily showers, and his subscription to Time magazine.

And his massages, and his morning tea served by a Butler, and his champagne and caviar...

[CindyDawg]

Not Barny. Porky Pig.

[tiamat]

If you've ever seen his picture, you can look at him and know he isn't the sharpest knife in the drawer.