Posted on 06/03/2002 5:28:46 PM PDT by mdittmar
Briton Richard Reid, who allegedly tried to blow up a transatlantic flight with bombs in his shoes, wants to read Time magazine in jail but the U.S. government will give him only censored copies, his lawyers said on Monday.
"The government has (told us) it will delete from each issue, before allowing the defendant to have it, anything about terrorism and 'related matters'," Reid's lawyers said, arguing such deletions would amount to unfair censorship.
"Even if the government had the authority ... to make such deletions to prevent violence or other crime, there is no conceivable chance that ... reading Time could cause violence to anyone," they said in sealed papers that Federal Judge William Young ordered released to the public during a hearing on Monday.
Reid was arrested on Dec. 22 after he was overpowered by flight attendants and passengers on American Airlines Flight 63 from Paris. Officials allege he was trying to ignite explosives concealed in his shoe.
U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft has said Reid received training from al Qaeda -- the network of Islamic militants that the government says masterminded the Sept. 11 airline attacks in which some 3,000 people were killed.
Reid faces charges of attempted murder, attempted homicide and attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction.
Reid, who has pleaded not guilty to the charges, could be jailed for life if convicted.
A spokeswoman for the government declined to comment on Reid's request to subscribe to Time, but prosecutors hinted that Reid was keen to know what was being said about him.
Reid "asked several times about media coverage" after he was arrested at Boston's Logan Airport in December, U.S. prosecutors said in a separate court filing on Monday.
Judge Young also eased some restrictions he had placed on Reid's already-limited communications with the outside world.
Under a special order issued in March, Young ordered Reid's lawyers not to repeat any conversations with the defendant to anyone in order to protect national security.
But citing a risk to Reid's constitutional right to a fair trial, the judge said he would allow the lawyers to talk about the case with third parties as long as the discussions pertained to his defense.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which had argued along with Reid's lawyers that Young's previous order was too restrictive, welcomed the judge's decision but continued to oppose the conditions under which Reid was being kept.
John Reinstein, legal director for the ACLU in Massachusetts, said Reid was "isolated completely" from the outside world as he awaited trial in an isolated cell at a maximum-security state prison outside Boston.
Citing conversations with people who have seen Reid at the facility, Reinstein said the Briton was in a special part of the prison intended for violent offenders.
He said Reid was locked in one of several cells with a glass door, through which he is constantly observed by his jailers.
"It is completely silent -- you can't hear in or out," Reinstein said. "That is the most isolated part of the Massachusetts prison system."
Where the he!! is Amnesty International on this?/
The horror,the horror.
Since when did he have the rights of an American?
I guess since he crossed the border.
There's a Constitutional Amendment I could back.
You think the cell is too quiet?
That's cool...
Stick him in population!
You think the cell is too quiet?
That's cool... Stick him in population!
My guess he would find a number of inmates who would love to "talk" to him about killing Americans.
It's either "censorship" or NO Time Magazine at all...take your pick. The criminal justice system has no obligation to this terrorist!
You're too cruel ... no magazines at all? I'd give him plenty of magazines ... any ones that he wanted - except all the pages and even the cover, except the title of the magazine, should be black. "This, son, is more than all you'd be seeing if you had been successful."
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