Posted on 07/30/2009 9:25:52 AM PDT by Sergeant Tim
Today, in a Wall Street Journal op-ed entitled 'Revenge of the ‘Shoe Bomber’: The terrorist sues to resume his jihad from prison. The Obama administration caves in,' Debra Burlingame writes:
On June 17, at the Administrative Maximum (ADX) penitentiary in Florence, Colo., one of those albatrosses, inmate number 24079-038, began his day with a whole new range of possibilities. Eight days earlier [June 9, 2007 pdf file at link], the U.S. Attorney’s office in Denver filed notice in federal court that the Special Administrative Measures (SAMs) which applied to that prisoner -- Richard C. Reid, a.k.a. the “Shoe Bomber” -- were being allowed to expire. SAMs are security directives, renewable yearly, issued by the attorney general when “there is a substantial risk that a prisoner’s communications, correspondence or contacts with persons could result in death or serious bodily injury” to others. ... READ THE REST of Debra Burlingame's op-ed.
What follows is additional information and links.
On June 9, the very same day the District Court was notified that the SAMs against Reid would be allowed to expire, the DOJ issued a press release within which they made no mention of that fact. That same day, the DOJ emailed notice of the press release to 9/11 and U.S.S. Cole bombing family members. In 'Fact Sheet: Prosecuting and Detaining Terror Suspects in the U.S. Criminal Justice System' the DOJ stated:
"[T]he U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York (SDNY) has investigated and successfully prosecuted a wide range of international and domestic terrorism cases," adding, The "Supermax" facility in Florence, Colo. (ADX Florence), which is BOP’s most secure facility, houses 33 of these international terrorists. There has never been an escape from ADX Florence."
In Section III of their press release, the DOJ listed Reid among seven infamous Islamic jihad terrorists and touted the Special Administrative Measures:
* Sheikh Omar Abdel-Rahman, convicted of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing * Ramzi Yousef, convicted of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing * Ahmed Ressam, the Millenium Bomber * Wadih el-Hage, convicted of the 1998 U.S. Embassy bombings in Africa * Richard Reid, convicted of attempting to ignite a shoe bomb while on a flight from Paris to Miami carrying 184 passengers and 14 crewmembers * Ahmed Omar Abu Ali, convicted of plotting to assassinate the U.S. President as well as attack and destroy civilian airliners * Zacarias Moussaoui, convicted of conspiring with al-Qaeda to hijack and crash planes into prominent U.S. buildings as part of the 9/11 attacks"the Attorney General may direct the BOP to initiate ... with respect to a particular inmate ... when there is a substantial risk that a prisoner's communications or contacts with persons could result in death or serious bodily injury to persons, or substantial damage to property that would entail the risk of death or serious bodily injury to persons. Generally, these measures can be initiated to prevent acts of terrorism, acts of violence, or the disclosure of classified information.
"SAMs are specific to a particular inmate. The special administrative measures may include housing the inmate in administrative detention and/or limiting certain privileges, including, but not limited to, correspondence, visiting, and other communications, as is reasonably necessary to protect persons against the risk of acts of violence or terrorism, while still maintaining the inmate’s attorney/client privilege. The SAMs authorization automatically expires after one year, unless renewed or vacated."
On July 08, 2009, USA Today reported that Reid had been relocated within Supermax, to general population. Last week, 9/11 Families for a Safe & Strong America reported that since June 30, President Barack Obama has cleared two dozen beds at the 490-bed Supermax in Florence for Gitmo detainees. Fox News received a letter last week from Supermax inmate and Olympic bomber Eric Rudolph who wrote, "Many of the less than honest inmates 'convert' to Judaism or Islam just to get the Kosher Halal food tray. In contrast, the government's treatment of Christians is different. Christians cannot get the Kosher-Halal food tray." TV there seems similarly slanted for Rudolph adds, "We get treated to a weekly dose of Farrakan, but The Passion is too controversial."
The DOJ's Inspector General issued a September 2006 report where, in part, they found:
"[T]he BOP has not effectively monitored the mail of terrorist and other high-risk inmates. Our review determined that the [Bureau of Prison's] monitoring of inmate mail is deficient in several respects: The BOP does not read all the mail for terrorist and other high-risk inmates on its mail monitoring lists, does not have enough proficient translators to translate inmate mail written in foreign languages, and does not have sufficient staff trained in intelligence techniques to evaluate whether terrorists’ communications contain suspicious content."
On December 21, 2006, the Washington Post reported:
"No one's getting out of the Supermax, period. End of story," said Robert Hood, warden of Supermax from 2002 to 2005. Even union officials concede that an escape is unlikely. But they say staff cuts have made the prison dangerous for employees and vulnerable to attack from the outside. This year, a federal arbitrator agreed. The evidence, the arbitrator wrote, is clear: 3,147 critical shifts left unfilled; some housing units unsupervised for entire shifts; cells no longer being regularly searched; a rise in assaults on staff and threats of assaults by inmates angry they can't get their one hour per day of recreation; two murders at the prison in two months last year, after a decade without any. Suddenly, the issue was viewed as more than union blustering over staff cuts."One of the problems we run into as a union is we're always dismissed as trying to pad federal jobs," said Mike Schnobrich, a correctional officer and secretary/treasurer of the American Federation of Government Employees Council of Prison Locals 1302. "We've been saying from the beginning this is not just a management-labor issue. This is a good-government issue." Federal officials have acknowledged the problem and recently hired or will hire 18 staff members, bringing the total to at least 208 -- still fewer than the 240 the prison had when it opened in the mid-1990s.
With perhaps dozens more Islamic terrorists headed to Supermax from Guantanamo, the amount of mail, phone calls, and prison conversations for BOP staff to monitor will at least double, as will the lawsuits. Yet President Obama and AG Holder were handed an easy solution to both those problems: Richard Reid offered them terms and they surrendered to his wishes.
Reid's hand-written complaint. Click on image to open pdf file
The real revenge of the shoe bomber occurs every time you fly and have to take your shoes off for TSA. It’s a dance called the Shoebomber Shuffle. All because of this one nutcase.
Why is this guy still breathing our air?
The US Department of Justice is terminally (no! criminally)stupid.
Ping!
Thanks for the ping!
As we noted that as well, perhaps Debra or I should have added the District Court judge refused to dismiss the lawsuit. The issue in contention is not damages; the judge’s stated reason for denying the DOJ a dismissal is he wishes to ensure the BOP in fact ends the SAMs that had expired. We will be watching as well.
correct.
The Palestinians and Muslims are always complaining about “humiliation” at the hands of Westerners. What do you call having to take off your shoes before boarding a plane?
By the way, the Israelis don’t do it.
Thanks Tim. Debra does such great work keeping the issue
of 9/11 and terrorist bombers up front to remind people
this is a war we are in.
Come on folks.... we are supposed to be conservatives here; not tyrants!
I would have had no problems with executing this scumbag, but what purpose does it serve to keep him from going to the prison library, going to “church”, and getting mail?
He’s locked up in the Supermax FOR LIFE w/o parole. Let him have his mail, etc. Or would you rather him to stare at his cell walls for the rest of his life, slowly going completely insane, and being further trouble to the prison staff?
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