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| Shoe Bomber Challenges Prison Rules |
| 2004-08-20 |
| 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. |
| Posted by:Howard UK |
| #13 Bomb - click on my handle, and email me. I can supply you with some tidbits that may tempt you... OP |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2004-08-20 6:58:10 PM |
| #12 B-a-R - You wanna talk to OP - dunno about others - he's in Colo Springs, I believe. |
| Posted by: .com 2004-08-20 5:00:27 PM |
| #11 The SuperMax is about 40 miles due south of where I live in Colorado Springs. Say, are there any high tech companies (not semiconductor outfits, but hardware-oriented firms) located there in CO Springs? I'm itching to leave this cesspool called California, and CO seems to be in the ideal location; the desert southwest in one direction, mountains in another, and the Plains to the east. A perfect location from which to embark on leisurely motorbike rides and off-the-beaten-path 4WD expeditions. |
| Posted by: Bomb-a-rama 2004-08-20 4:58:28 PM |
| #10 None of the cases has resulted in changes so far. How good to see that this story has a happy ending. As to Reid's prison conditions, the stark bare and featureless environment that surrounds him sounds like a perfect match for what's going on inside his head. It couldn't happen to a nicer guy. most of them would shoot Reid on sight Promises, promises ... |
| Posted by: Zenster 2004-08-20 2:39:29 PM |
| #9 The SuperMax is about 40 miles due south of where I live in Colorado Springs. It's a harsh looking place from the outside. I have no wish to see what it looks like from the inside. I wish I had a digital camera - I'd take some photos and post them. Reid has no idea how UGLY the terrain immediately outside SuperMax is, or he'd be glad he doesn't have a window. Most of it is low scrub desert, with lots of bare beige dirt. Like most of Colorado, however, 30 miles away in virtually every direction is land totally different. To the south is San Isabel National Forest, one of the most beautiful places in the state. The Royal Gorge is ten miles west, with the Arkansas River valley just beyond. The foothills of Pike's Peak are to the north - along with Fort Carson and 15,000 Army troops. The city of Pueblo (130,000), 30 miles to the east, isn't exactly a garden spot, but has some absolutely fantastic old Victorian homes, a nice zoo, and a few other goodies. Just to put matters into perspective, there are four other state and federal prisons in the Florence/Penrose/Canon City area, along with the state's Prison Museum. There's also a nice dinosaur museum - this is the area where Edward Drinker Cope pulled more than 200 fossils from local Cretaceous formations for the University of Pennsylvania in the 1800's. Everybody in the local area owns a gun, and most of them would shoot Reid on sight, if he should ever even find his way to the outside security wire. |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2004-08-20 1:18:23 PM |
| #8 So Mr. Reid thinks the punishment is too harsh? Has he apologised for trying to murder a couple of hundred people yet? I say don't protect him from the other inmates. Let him have his martyrdom, and let it be slow and agonising. |
| Posted by: Bulldog 2004-08-20 12:33:58 PM |
| #7 So Mr. Reid thinks the punishment is too harsh? Too bad. As Baretta would say: "Don't do the crime if you can't do the time." |
| Posted by: Bomb-a-rama 2004-08-20 10:38:10 AM |
| #6 The Administrative Maximum Unit Prison (ADX) in Florence was not designed as a country club. ....prisoners are forced to eat, sleep, and defecate in their cells and are allowed out of their cells for an extremely limited amount of time. In D, F, and G units (considered general population), out-of-cell time is a total of nine hours a week -- three times a week for three hours with one other person. The lighting is designed to prohibit sunlight: a slit 3 inches wide and 3 feet long facing a wall or rec yard and a florescent light strip provide the only illumination. The furniture is gray concrete built into white walls with drab green trim. The cells are sealed off with two steel doors, one barred, and the other solid steel. This steel and cement cage prohibits any communication between prisoners. Even contact with prison officials is limited. ADX Florence is designed so that one guard can control the movements of numerous prisoners in several cell blocks by way of electronic doors, cameras and audio equipment. "These guys will never be out of their cells, much less in the yard or anywhere around here," says Russ Martin, the project manager for the Florence prison. Puerto Rican Prisoner of War Oscar Lopez Rivera states that "isolation is perfected here, both in the structure of the cell and in the very limited communication. People don't realize the value of human intercourse until it's denied." More on Florence prison. here. Lacking a death sentence Mr Reid is getting his just deserts. |
| Posted by: GK 2004-08-20 9:11:29 AM |
| #5 This guy tells more tales than Kerry. Can you imagine him reading a "book" or taking a "shower"? |
| Posted by: Jack is Back 2004-08-20 9:07:11 AM |
| #4 But Mr Reid may have a letter published by the editor of Time that signals to the world's jihadis the beginning of armageddon and the coming of the Mahdi, an event that will see us all converted to Islam. Intshallah.(SWT) |
| Posted by: Howard UK 2004-08-20 8:38:28 AM |
| #3 He said he has been denied ... his subscription to Time magazine. Prosecutors say such restrictions are necessary because Al Qaeda members sometimes communicate through coded messages ... This stupid restriction is based on a fear that Time might publish a letter to the editor that includes a hidden message communicating secret instructions to Richard Reid in his super maximum security prison. It is mind-bogglingly stupid rules like this that open the door wide open for lawyers and judges to challenge and modify all prison rules. . |
| Posted by: Mike Sylwester 2004-08-20 8:31:02 AM |
| #2 I rate his survival right up there with child molester/abuser at about 15 minutes in an unsupervised general pound you in the ass federal prison population. |
| Posted by: FlameBait93268 2004-08-20 5:44:20 AM |
| #1 I am duly outraged that a British citizen should be kept in such barbaric conditions. *snicker* The reason you're in solitary asshole, is that you'd probably be killed. |
| Posted by: Howard UK 2004-08-20 5:24:00 AM |