Posted on 02/23/2011 7:48:29 AM PST by Qbert
The fate of the Somali pirates who allegedly killed four Americans off the coast of Somalia has yet to be determined, but the U.S. Justice Department says it is "investigating and reviewing" evidence in the case and is "committed to working with our international partners to ensure that the perpetrators of this heinous crime are brought to justice."
The four Americans were on a yacht in the waters off the Horn of Africa when their vessel was hijacked Friday. U.S. forces were following the hijacked yacht when on Tuesday at least some of the hijackers opened fire. The hostages -- Scott and Jean Adam of California, and Phyllis Macay and Bob Riggle of Seattle -- had suffered fatal wounds.
If the U.S. government decides to handle this case in the same way it has handled other recent cases of Somali pirates targeting U.S. ships, the 15 surviving Somalis currently aboard a U.S. aircraft carrier near the Horn of Africa will soon be heading for a U.S. courtroom.
The United States may not have many other options. In early 2009, Kenya and several Western countries entered into an agreement whereby Kenya would prosecute pirates captured by Western forces. But Kenya became overwhelmed by the volume of cases, and in late 2010 Kenya canceled the agreement, according to reports at the time.
Should the Justice Department, along with other U.S. authorities, decide to prosecute the 15 pirates in the United States, one of four U.S. attorneys' offices around the country could end up with the case: the Southern District of New York, the Eastern District of Virginia, the Western District of Washington or the Central District of California.
Asked whether those districts are in fact in the mix, a Justice Department spokesman declined to answer, saying he is "not going to speculate...
(Excerpt) Read more at politics.blogs.foxnews.com ...
I read yesterday that they currently hold 600 hostages and 30 ships - but it doesn’t make the news here because it involves other countries, and teachers pay is so much more important.
They should never have made it back to shore. These are pirates and murderers. Not “alleged.” They were caught on a hijacked boat in international waters. With murdered civilians on board.
Plain and simple. They’re murdering pirates, and should have been put overboard and left to drown.
Mark
But in 100 years, the descendants of Major Owens would say that there would still be sharks in those waters looking for another free meal.
Mark
I just got my jury duty summons yesterday....if they can expedite things for the week of March 21 over in Indio, I’ll - for once - be eager to show up and hope to get empaneled.
Exactly. I mean, how much more of this are we supposed to take?
The story is that extreme poverty in their country lures uneducated Somali yutes into signing on into the piracy business, including volunteers as young as 13 or 14.
Whether this is correct or not in this particular piracy case, capital punishment for a group of youths would be iffy in an American court. The bleeding hearts would have a field day.
I guess we just have to wait for more details to come out.
Leni
turn them over to the Russians and forget about it.
They’ll get a slap on the hand since the District of Criminals is in love with the Muzzies.
Hand them over to Marcellus Wallace, with a pair of pliers and a blowtorch.
It's all because of that darn "Rule of Law".
The President should have to power to have anyone (especially pirates) executed whenever and for whatever he deems necessary.
That will take care of the problem.
if they did ever wind up in an American court, it could take twenty years with all the appeals...but the fact they are Muslims is important...can’t let patriotic American desires for punishing murderers of innocent Americans get in the way of outreach to the Muslim world.
“I wish I remember where I read that most of the Somali pirates who were captured are extremely young, some still in their teens.”
I remember reading the same thing. It’s intentional on the part of the terrorist leaders, of course. We’ll probably see even more of it since they know that this is a weakness in the American court system under the current regime.
Our law enforcement agents will gun down a pot smoker in his own home
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2678486/posts
and arrest an 11 year old boy for drawing “threatening” pictures in school
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2678605/posts
and gun down a Costco shopper
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2601801/posts
or a Native American wood carver in Seattle,
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2674413/posts
but don’t lay a hand on the Muzzies! They’re the true, loveable, little fuzzballs in our nation that need to be protected by our State governments and the thugs in suits located in the District of Criminals. Hey! They gotta protect their own, right? Thugs and criminals love terrorists!
“You think the soldiers properly read these Pirates their rights? If not anything they admit will be thrown out of court. And did they have a proper search warrant? You think we will pay for their lawyers as taxpayers?”
We have a bunch of anti-American ACLU lawyers dictating our foreign policy to some extent. This is a PR war we can win (not that Obozo and Holder will do anything about it, of course). This isn’t 2008 with people frustrated with Iraq- this is murdering Americans.
Another word overused to the point of uselessness.
Do I owe the NFL money for saying Super Bowl?
congress passes laws all the time. so pass one.
Appreciate your sarcasm, I like the rule of law too. My point is the law should be changed to what it used to be. When we used to try them at sea and then execute them we had rule of law. The law just made more sense then.
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