by Joe Snyder
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Remember the nut who boarded a plane with a bomb built into his shoe and tried to light it? Little of what the judge said to Shoe Bomber Richard Reid was printed or carried on television, but I ran across the judge’s transcript on Internet recently and want to share it with you. The judge sentenced him on various counts not only to life in prison but in addition, 110 years in prison, plus a total of $2 million in fines.
Said the judge: “Mr. Reid, we are not afraid of you. We are Americans and have been threatened before. We are not afraid of any of your terrorist co-conspirators. We are Americans. We have been through the fire before. 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 credit. You are a terrorist. I know terrorists. A species of criminal guilt of multiple attempted murders. You are no big deal. What was it that led you into this court? I have listened respectfully to what you had to say. I ask you to search your heart and ask yourself what sort of hate led you to do what you are guilty of doing.
“I have an answer for you. You hate our freedom. Our freedom to live as we chose and to believe or not believe as we individually chose. Here, in this society, the very winds carry freedom. They carry it everywhere from sea to shining sea. It is for freedom’s sake that you are in this courtroom so that people can see, truly see, that justice is administered fairly, individually and discretely.
“It is for freedom’s sake that your lawyers are striving in your behalf, have filed appeals and will appear in their representation of you before other judges. We do this because we know the way we treat you is a test of our own liberties. Make no mistake though. It is true we will bear any burden, pay any price, to preserve our freedoms.
“The world will not long remember what you or I say here. Day after tomorrow it will be forgotten, but in courtrooms all across America it will endure. In this courtroom and those across America, people will gather to see that justice, individual justice, is in fact being done. The President of the United States through his officers will have come into courtrooms nationwide and lay out evidence on which specific matters can be judged. Juries will sit to judge evidence democratically to mold and shape our sense of justice.
“See that flag Mr. Reid? That is the flag of the United States of America. That flag will fly there long after this is all forgotten. That flag represents freedom and justice. It always will.”
“Custody, Mr. Officer. Stand him down.”
Email Joe Snyder at: [email protected]