Cream-Puff Justice [Moussaoui & Clinton appointee Brinkema]

Investor's Business Daily ^ | 3/23/06

[mathprof]

When an admitted al-Qaida operative pleads guilty to conspiracy to murder thousands of innocents, it's obvious he deserves the death penalty — except to extremist federal judges like Brinkema.

Zacarias Moussaoui was arrested for immigration violations by the FBI less than a month before the attacks, after suspicions arose about his attending a Minnesota flight school. Last year, he admitted to conspiring with al-Qaida in the plot.

The case against him is solid as a rock: The 9-11 attacks could have been stopped if Moussaoui had confessed instead of lying to the FBI after his arrest.

Yet U.S. District Judge Brinkema is mulling whether to dismiss the U.S. government's request to impose the death sentence. The reason? A technicality: A government lawyer e-mailed trial transcripts to seven potential witnesses, violating a court order.

[snip]

Who, after all, is more deserving of capital punishment than the likes of Moussaoui, who smiled in court during accounts of the four jets plowing into the Twin Towers and the Pentagon?

[snip]

But Brinkema is not known for letting ordinary Americans decide things for themselves. Placed on the federal bench by Bill Clinton in 1993, she is also responsible for extreme rulings regarding Internet pornography.

In her 1998 Urofsky ruling, she contended it was unconstitutional to bar state employees from spending time at work on their computers viewing pornography. She was unanimously overturned by the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals the next year.

Her Loudoun ruling the same year prevented a local library from blocking sexual explicit Web sites on its computers — even to protect employees from sexual harassment. The library chose to remove all computers instead of appealing.

Brinkema's extremism teaches a clear lesson: Even at the lower- court level it's vitally important to appoint judges who enforce the law, not make it.

[mathprof]

ELECTIONS MATTER!!!!!!!!

Read the whole article.

[Brilliant]

This just proves that the court system is not capable of protecting the American public from terrorists.

[P-40]

Last year, he admitted to conspiring with al-Qaida in the plot.

The 911 Commission Report goes into great detail on his role in the plot. Interesting read. Had it not been for his immigration status though, he'd still be in flight school. :)

[Verginius Rufus]

Who was it who prevented Moussaoui's computer from being searched after it was seized--which might have prevented 9/11? Was it the FISA court or a particular judge? Is the name being kept secret for some reason?

[CowboyJay]

"A government lawyer e-mailed trial transcripts to seven potential witnesses, violating a court order."

Any lawyer worth their weight in salt knows better than to do this. He threw this case on purpose, IMHO.

[hotshu]

Not a "he". The barrister who threw the case was a "she". A Fed legal rep from the TSA. You know, the same agency that had to be "Federalized" in order to be professional. At least that's what Hillary and "L'il Tommy" Daschle said.

[CowboyJay]

Thanks for the clarification.

[Mila]

"Who was it who prevented Moussaoui's computer from being searched after it was seized--which might have prevented 9/11? Was it the FISA court or a particular judge? Is the name being kept secret for some reason?"

This might shed some light on your question.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2002878741_mouss21.html

[P-40]

Was it the FISA court or a particular judge?

My understanding is that it never made it to the FISA court. No application was made because the FBI did not think they could make their case and overcome "The Wall" of Jamie Gorelick fame. There is a lot to that argument as a rejected application would have tipped the terrorist off that something was up but I have also heard much said about the claim that a warrant would have been granted.

[Verginius Rufus]

Thanks for the information.

I guess the MSM is not very interested in this side of the story because they haven't figured out how to make it fit one of these templates: (1) Bush was personally to blame, or (2) America mistreats Muslims.

[P-40]

I guess the MSM is not very interested in this side of the story

They are giving this trial a fairly wide berth unless it involves screwups by the prosecution and what not. They did cover the FBI warnings on suspicious Muslims taking flying lessons but did not report on just how little the FBI could do about it without an "arrestable" offense.