Shoe Bomber Sues Over Harsh U.S. Prison Conditions

[Nambe]

DENVER (Reuters)

"Shoe bomber" Richard Reid has sued U.S. prison authorities for imposing harsh conditions including isolation and a lack of access to Arabic language religious books.

Reid is serving a life sentence for attempting to use explosives in his shoes to blow up an American Airlines flight from Paris to Miami three months after the Sept. 11 attacks.

Reid, a British citizen, wants a judge to order prison authorities to give him "the same rights and privileges as other inmates held in this prison."

Reid has been at the Administrative Maximum Facility in Colorado, popularly known as Supermax, since February 2003.

In May, a federal prison official told Reid U.S. authorities had ordered special administrative measures to restrict Reid's access to mail, media, telephone and visitors. ..

Ride Don’t Drive * * It’s Global Cool

[LauraK]

1. "If I'da been on that plane, he wouldn't need a TV."

My brother speaks his mind.

[kaos]

2. Execute him then he will be with his 72 virgins...

A winwin situation everybody is happy.

[redstateblues]

3. Richard Reid aka Shoe Bomber- Send HIM to Abu Graib

o

[kaos]

4. Send HIM to Abu Graib?

So they can put panties on his head?

[DS1]

5. Funny complaint for a man willing to plummet into the Atlantic

Ocean wearing half a leg.

[BlueLogic]

6. if only...

I wish i could feel sorry for him, but I can't. He should be greatful he isn't in jail in Saudi Arabia.

[Auntie Bush]

7. He should learn to think positive...be grateful he has clothes on his ass.

[JohnnyRingo]

8. I guess that endorsement for Nike isn't working out

"Air Jihad"

[TaleWgnDg]

9. apparently, Richard Reid . . .

keeps putting his foot into his mouth . . . having not learned the first time

[noahmijo]

10. Oh please throw his ass into Oz

For once this is a guy I wouldn't mind seeing Vern Schillinger and his goons get a hold of.

[mike_c]

11. hmmm..., does "equal protection under the law" mean anything...

...anymore? I'm disgusted by the remarks made in this thread. Yes, Reid is a convicted criminal. So are the other inmates he shares his prison with. Why should the rules governing his imprisonment be arbitrarily harsher than theirs? Under what due process was that decision made? We all know that "the authorities" often act outside the boundaries of legal-- and even civilized-- behavior when they don't think anyone is looking, so why doesn't the phrase "U.S. authorities had ordered special administrative measures to restrict Reid's access to mail, media, telephone and visitors" give anyone pause? This sounds like someone misusing their office to "git even with a terra-ist." Vigillante justice.

[Geo55]

12. Zzzzzz.....

Give 'em his shoe back and matches that work.

[DUreader]

13. C'mon, Mike, move toward the center. Only fringe liberals care about law.

democrats just can't win without the demokkkrats

[Frodo]

14. "Equal protection under the law" means that anyone ELSE

who tries to blow up a whole plane of civilians gets treated the same way HE does.

It doesn't mean that he gets the same cable channels as the guy in the next cell block in for a little weed.

[DUreader]

17. SuperMax "for a little weed"?

what a bunch of b.s. that is.

[Frodo]

19. Your own post defeats your point.

You don't recognize hyperbole BTW?

"SuperMax for 'a little weed'"??

So you recognize that people in prison get different treatment and you accept that this is the correct way to treat them? That someone in jail for a little weed might not get maximum security? Might get to play soccer in the field with other inmates? Might even have cable TV in his cell? But that certain crimes that are more severe might not get all of the same privileges? And that this disparate treatment does not violate the equal protection clause?


So we must assume that your original post was saying you don't think trying to kill a plane full of people is a particularly serious crime?


My point still stands. "Equal protection" does not imply "equal treatment for dissimilar crimes".

[DUreader]

21. my original post is expressing disgust at folks advocating torture

I don't know anything about the facts of his treatment but it

seems to me that all people are in super max for similar crimes

so they should recieve similar treatment and the suit is about that

if we can believe this article

[Frodo]

22. Ok, now you make my point for me.

"seems to me that all people are in super max for similar crimes so they should recieve similar treatment"

So as I said, you don't see the attempted murder of 197 civilians as any worse than the murder of one. Or perhaps assault or rape. Or whatever else gets you in to a SuperMax.

However, I DID mix you up with Mike_c on that other point. :hi:


Based on a little research, I'm surprised that you aren't upset at the treatment of ALL of the prisoners in these SuperMax prisons, rather than this slime.

[djg21]

28. My favorite inmate lawsuits:

This is not a joke. And these are from personal experience!

(1) inmate's First Amendment rights were violated when he was not allowed to keep plans to build ultralite aircraft in his cell. His retort "Like I could build an airplane under the watchful eye of the corrections officers." Did anyone here ever read Escape From Colditz?

(2) inmate was subjected to cruel and unusual punishment in violation of Eight Amendment when, after assualting other inmate, he allegedly was placed in room and forced to watch the Country Music Channel for two hours.

(3) Medical personel were deliberately indifferent to serious medical need when they refused inmate's request for skin lotion. (This is a frequent complaint -- need I tell you what the inmates use it for?)

(4) Corrections staff violated eight amendment when medical staff ordered that inmate be housed on ground floor of prison, or one level up, to avoid stair climing. Inmate was housed two flights up for one week do to lack of available cell. During that time, inmate was in disciplinary keeplock confinement, and couldn't leave his cell anyway.

(5) Inmate was unconstitutionally required to attend sex offender counseling, despite fact that he had only been convicted of Burglary. Inmate had entered a plea of guilty to burglary after spying on woman from outside window, and then breaking into her home. Woman, who was asleep on couch, woke to find her niteshirt pulled up around her neck, and inmate/perp standing with his pants off, and his hand on her thigh. Husband chases pants less perp into street with baseball bat. Inmate had three priors for sex offenses!

(6) Inmate claims he was unlawfully exposed to environmental tobacco smoke. Inmate is a smoker.

I could go on, and on, and on, and on.

[djg21]

29. Actually,

It means that he should be no disparate treatment based on membership in a suspect class of individuals, or in other words, because or race, ethnicity, etc. That being said, he is being treated just like any other Federal inmate. His claims are pure crap!

[biftonnorton]

18. mike_c, why do you hate america?

:-) jus' bussin' you balls, man

[djg21]

23. You have no clue what you are talking about!

This man is beeing treated perfectly properly.

He is in involuntary protective custody because, if placed in general population, HE WILL BE KILLED OR WORSE!

Perfectly consistent with the Constitution, the mail of all prisoners, except mail to and from attorneys, may be opened, inspected and read by prison officials, who have the compelling state interest of seeing that contraband such as drugs and weapons are not mailed into the correctional facility. Moreover, in light if this clown's terrorist activities, federal authorites certainly have an interest in monitoring his correspondence. While Ashcroft is certainly a jerk, there is no doubt that a Dem AG and administration would do the same thing!

BTW, there is no Constitutional right to TV or radio.

Moreover, I can assure you that he's lying through his teeth,and that even in protective custody or a special housing unit (a disciplinary unit with 23hr/day lockdown), prisoners may shower,at least three times each week. This case is nonsense and it will be dismissed!

Interestingly, a number of years ago, I would have agreed with you entirely. Then I had the opportunity to defend my state against countless frivolous and recreational civil rights actions commenced by prisoners with nothing better to do with their time. Prisons, contrary to your apparent erroneous belief, are not intended to be resorts.

With regard to Reid, he is in prison because he's a terrorist and an attempted mass-murder. He's a bad man. Too fucking bad for him.

[RivetJoint]

24. Wow!

[uncle ray]

25. thanks for making my point for me

"Then I had the opportunity to defend my state against countless frivolous and recreational civil rights actions commenced by prisoners with nothing better to do with their time."

then give them the fucking petty little things they are asking for! the man is sentenced to life in prison. not a life of constant torture. treat him like a human being, not an animal. i was unaware that life in prison was intended to make you WISH you had been excuted. give him the oppertunity to WORK for certain things just like the rest of the prison population.

i don't want him living a "resort life" either, but i just got done reading the post about the texas man freed from prison after 40 years! and the one yesterday about being "convicted" not necessarily meaning "guilty".

funny how we are shocked and appaled at beheading, but think nothing of abusing someone for the rest of their natural lives. really, it is no hyperbole when i say i would take instant death rather than life imprisonment under such harsh terms, with the slightest possibility of being released back into this crazy world.

"first we make you one of us...then we kill you". from 1984.

[djg21]

26. Again, you are clueless.

The imprisonment of the man in Texas was certainly a travesty of justice, and the prosecutors and police officers who put him in prison should be in prison themselves. That's not the point.

The question is whether Reid, who was not wrongfully convicted, is being denied his constitutional rights, and I can pretty much assure you that he is not.

BTW, inmates are required to hold prison jobs -- and they are required to report to their jobs unless excused for medical reasons, or in disciplinary keeplock, SHU or involuntary protective custody. A refusal to work is a disciplinary infraction.

Inmates are also encouraged to program -- i,e. attend GED classes, Attend Alcohol and Substance Abuse classes, etc.

There are also procedural protections afforded under the Constitution which guarantee that inmates aren't improperly maintained in involuntary protective custody, given that it is much more restrictive then gen pop.

Inmates are also entitled to free medical care (in my state, which employs an HMO model, inmates have better medical care than most unicarcerated individuals -- no joke!), and access to a law library, etc.

With respect to "fucking petty little things they are asking for," these things (access to TVs, Radios, commissary buys, the privilege of receiving packages from those outside, etc.) are incentives used to encourage compliance with prison disciplinary rules.

These "gentlemen" are already in prison because they were not able to abide by society's laws. There needs to be something with which to encourage them to obey prison rules.

If you want a fairly objective view of life in a prison, why don't you read Ted Conover's Book entitled "New Jack," in which he describes his year working as an officer at Sing Sing. If your opinions and views ae based on movies like Brubaker, etc., you're misguided.

[uncle ray]

33. my opinions and views don't come from movies, thanks.

they come from practically living in the shadow of this prison, and the many others in this area, they come from dealing with people who did time in these prisons, and those family members affected by their incarceration. they come from the fear that one day, i too may be behind those same walls, be it for expressing the wrong political message, or passing a joint to the wrong person. my opinions come from the few days i spent in police custody, and from the things i've learned within from even the briefest of stays.

funny how they are looking out for Reid's best interest's yet they failed to a few times now with convicted child molesting priests? what makes you think the general prison population is going to be so quick to defend the government that has them imprisoned? many, not all by any means, but many prisoners would buddy up right next to Reid. being an attempted murder isn't that shocking to murderers.

[djg21]

34. Details?

No offense, but you have an overly simplistic view of prisons. Have you ever been inside a real prison? Not a county lockup or a municipal jail after a DUI, but the real thing -- a supermax? Not the visiting area, but the cell blocks, or the SHU -- the parts that are restricted to security staff and inmates? Have you ever spoken for more than two minutes with a member of the corrections staff of a supermax? Have you ever been in a prison during a lockdown? Do you have a clue as to the ratio of inmates to corrections officers at corrections facilites? How many inmates or former inmates have you spoken with -- I mean really engaged in a meaningful discussion about life in prison?

Do you know any corrections officers or corrections officials? If you do, why don't you ask them what they think? Sit down over a beer and ask them to tell you stories about their work. Ask them about inmate on inmate violence. Ask about inmate on staff violence. Ask how many times they've been sued by inmates. Ask if they know why they were sued, or if they can tell you about the lawsuits. Ask if they've ever been held liable by any court or jury!

Do you have any sense about the pecking order inmates create for themselves within a prison? Do you really think that doing violence to Reid would have any thing to do with protecting the Government?High profile inmates are targeted by other inmates for the reason that they are high profile alone. It gives inmates notoriety to target high profile inmates.

Have you ever considered the conflicts within American prisons between the Sunni Muslims and Shiites? How about the racial tensions between whites and blacks? How about tensions between gangs? Did you ever think that perhaps there are inmates in the system who lost family or friends in the terrorist attacks? Wouldn't you think that they'd want a piece of Mr. Reid just for the hell of it? There are any number of reasons why Mr. Reid would be targeted by other inmates. My guess is, that if released from protective custody,within a day Reid would be wearing coolaid as eyeshadow, and within a week he'd have a shank in him!

Give it a rest. While your intentions are without a doubt noble, and I certainly agree that inmates deserve every single protection that they are guaranteed under the Constitution, prison officials simply do not set out to torture and abuse inmates as you seem to think. Are there some bad prison employees who should be inmates themselves? Of course there are! There are assholes everywhere, and in every line of work! Are all corrections officials sadists? Of course not. Like I said before, for the large majority (as in most if not virtually all) corrections offers a job in areas wherethere is little other available employment. COs want nothing more than to go home to their families at the end of each shift in one piece!

While I agree that some laws -- drug laws in particular-- may be draconian, contrary to what you may believe, the majority of inmates in supermax prisons are not there because they were convicted of possession of small amounts (i.e., personal use amounts) of narcotics. That is simply a fiction.

My friend, the local county lockup is nothing like a supermax. And just because Mr. Reid could scratch out a federal complaint and make outlandish allegations, that does not in itself mean that his rights were violated or that his allegations aretrue. The ingenuity, manipulativeness, and imagination of inmates never ceases to amaze me.

Ironically, the fact that Reid, while in protective custody, so easily obtained legal materials and,without a single penny, and with no real legal knowledge or training, filed a federal civil rights complaint challenging the conditions of his confinement, speaks worlds about both our penal and legal systems. We should be encouraged by that!

[FiveGoodMen]

27. Agreed

[rfkrocks]

15. Reid has got no sole!

:+

[truthisfreedom]

16. this guy just can't catch a break, can he? first his matches are wet, now

he can't find anything to read. sounds like the rest of his life is going to be one long, lonely saturday night. with the power out.

[Tracer]

20. My little French nephew was on that plane...

... on his way to visit his dad in the U.S.

As far as I'm concerned, Richard Reid's creature comforts are of no concern to me.

[MrSlayer]

30. No sympathy from me.

Since he was so keen to blow himself and others up why doesn't he just hang himself in the cell? No more to bitch about then.

[yellowcanine]

31. Is he upset because they won't give his shoes back?

That does seem a tad unfair. Give the lad his shoes.

[KurtNYC]

32. Is it just me or does the shoe bomber look like that magician

that stayed in a box over the Thames - David Blaine (?)

vs.

[Mizmoon]

35. If you want to be a terrorist, you have to pay the price

Geeze!