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August 2, 2005
Judge John Coughenour
Last week in Seattle, a Federal Judge sentenced a 35 year-old man named Ahmed Ressam to 22 years in prison.
Mr. Ressam, an Algerian, attempted to enter the U.S. from Victoria, Canada in December 1999 via an ocean-going, automobile-carrying, ferry bound for Everett, Washington. An alert U.S. Customs Agent, who was acting under Clinton Administration orders to heighten border security due to intelligence reports that al-Qa'ida would attempt an attack during the millennium holiday celebration, found the explosives in the trunk of Mr. Ressam’s car.
Federal District Judge John Coughenour, a Republican appointed to the federal bench by Ronald Reagan in the 1980s, made a statement at the time of sentencing. His statement should give any American goosebumps of patriotism.
Here is the gist of it:
"[…] our system works. We did not need to use a secret military tribunal, or detain the defendant indefinitely as an enemy combatant, or deny him the right to counsel, or invoke any proceedings beyond those guaranteed by or contrary to the United States Constitution."
Read his statement in its entirety, here
Download his statement, here
Seattle Post-Intelligencer; 28 July 2005; p.A6, “TEXT OF JUDGE’S STATEMENT”
Posted by williamfrick at August 2, 2005 6:35 PM