Convicted terrorists housed in federal prisons can still conduct business around the world because of a lax system of reviewing inmate mail. In a report by the Justice Department, inspector general Glenn A. Fine of the U.S. Bureau of Prisons stated that federal prisons are understaffed and untrained to analyze mail coming in and out of prisons. The three terrorists responsible for the 1993 attacks on the World Trade Center apparently were able to recruit the alleged terrorists for the Madrid bombings in March 2004.
The report reveals the limitations of the penal system in handling this type of criminal, especially when no one can read Arabic.
Posted by Angie Holladay
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19 Comments
With all the billions we have spent on Homeland Security and we cannot find anyone willing to work with us that speaks Arabic?
Underfunded jails and prisons? Shh, don’t tell the conservatives that they’re to blame! They will tell you tax cuts for the rich are a good thing.
I seriously wonder sometimes if they really realize that their taxes pay for these things.
Maybe if they paid better they could staff the prisons adequately. I’d like to see some of these conservatives be the only guard on the yard with 100 inmates unarmed- making less than some of the work release inmates do!
Why not just cut off the mail? Why do prisoners have so many rights anyway? 3 hots and a cot, free education and job skill training, free legal services, access to TV, phones, and computers. Sounds better than what many live with on the outside.
Read the article Mary they are talking about Arab speaking convicted terrorists. I doubt job training is of any concern to them.
Is this the crux of irony or what?We’re trying to start WWIII by war hopping around the world lookin for terrorists leaders.They are right under our noses, still directing ops from prison.Now I’ve heard it all.Had enough yet?
Yeah okay, the ACLU pig stickers would be the first in line crying foul that Muslim letters were being screened illegally.
Arab terrorists are reknown for encoding messages with poetic license where only a few know the code. So, how are Arabic translators going to help if the code slips by?
Come on people, let’s try and use our brains for once.
I agree that mail from prisons should be a privledge and not a right. It should be a judgment of the court to decide whether or not prisoners can send mail out and under what conditions.
Since mail is a convenyance of the written word, it should be no difference than any other conveyance (airlines,trains,etc.) That is, subject to scrutiny by the FBI or any other federeral agency that find suspicious activity harmful to the interests or U.S. citizens be closely monitored.
You cannot tell me that we cannot find Arabic speaking people that could figure out the code. Hell, in WWII they used codes also – the Native Indians broke the codes.
This is just another article for some Bush supporters to wave in voter’s faces to justify their torture
Just going from memory, no link I can find to either substantiate or discredit what follows:
An issue in trying to find liguists with training in Arabic is the need to ascertain whether these folks have ties to “terrorist sympathizers”; another issue was the fact that many potential employess are not citizens; and finally, sexual orientation was (is) a deal breaker in some cases;
all with respect to the difficulty the CIA, et al, were having in finding translators a few years ago.
Not to mention the small number of those in college studying Arabic…
Should have been “employees”.
JM, whadya’ doin’ here?I thought you hated this lame blog.
hmmm, How about…”Wichita Eagle Starts Meaningless Blog”….JM
Raj Goyle is a former staff attorney for the ACLU, he has filed suit against jails and prisons in Maryland, as part of a nationwide “Prison Project” of the ACLU, below is one court order after a related ACLU lawsuit:”Mail: Under the settlement, mail may not be delayed or denied as a disciplinary measure. The rules forbidding receipt of outside books, magazines, or material printed from the Internet are rescinded.
The agreement will be enforced by independent outside monitors who will visit the Jail at six-month intervals for three years and report on the Jail’s compliance with the agreement. “http://www.aclu-wa.org/detail.cfm?id=51—–OK, the above is a quote from a specific ACLU case, below is a case out of Goyle’s Maryland office:
Opacity in government for prisoners: Massey v. Galley
“Victory! In May 2004, the Maryland Court of Appeals granted review of an appeal filed by the ACLU and the Public Justice Center (PJC) on behalf of a Maryland inmate who was barred from seeking documents under the Maryland Public Information Act (MPIA) because of his status as a prisoner. The appeal stems from a document request made under the MPIA by Western Correctional Institution (WCI) inmate Richard L. Massey to WCI Warden Jon P. Galley. When Galley ignored Massey’s request, the inmate filed a pro se enforcement lawsuit in Allegany County Circuit Court. That court dismissed the suit and the Court of Special Appeals affirmed, holding that inmates had to satisfy special requirements under the federal Prison Litigation Reform Act (PRLA) before they could seek information under the MPIA. The ACLU and PJC petitioned the Court of Appeals on Massey’s behalf, seeking reversal of the lower court decisions on grounds that the MPIA provides access to information for everyone. In May 2006, the state’s highest court ruled that inmates do not have to endure excessive hurdles set by the Prisoner Litigation Act in order to obtain information under the MPIA, emphasizing the importance of the right of all citizens to have access to public information. [Debbie Jeon]”
http://www.aclu-md.org/aLegal/Legal.html#Anchor-JAILS-23522
And Goyle again suing prisons on behalf of prisoners:
http://www.aclu.org/prison/conditions/14646prs20030806.html
Before anyone asks the point of this post: Very simply put, the ACLU and Raj Goyle tie the jailers and prison administration into knots with constant legal challenges. It would be very difficult to cut off mail to anyone, even a terrorist.An entire unit of the ACLU, called the “prison project” is dedicated to causing havoc in our criminal justice system by making prison as comfortable as a stay at the Holiday Inn.I know their are bad jailers out there, but when they violate the law they should be tried in criminal court.The ACLU finances itself by suing the government, in civil court, much like Fred Phelps and the WBC.(Of Course, Raj Goyle’s ACLU supports Fred Phelps “free speech” rights as well.)
there are,(If I correct myself before you catch my typo, it doesnt count, lol)
So Paul, are you saying you don’t support free speech? Goodness, is there any part of the Constitution that you do like?
Goyle was fighting for prisoners access to medical care. I know you hate people getting any medical care and you’d prefer them to die but our Constitution, which you hate, prohibits cruel and unusual punishment, and that includes forcing people to die because of heat exhaustion.
If you hate America so much why do you stay here? Does Bonnie Huy support your anti-American views?
hiI try to stay out of this stuffbut….I just never understand stuff like this concerning “our” gov. supposedly able to call on the greatest minds in the free world and they can not solve a prob. like this.just a thought…I’m only 43 and was in the military in the 80,s, on a aircraft carrier WORKING for slave wages at one of the most dangerous jobs in the world, 7/12,s or 7/20,s .mostly in unairconditioned places and if we refused to work we would be jailed and discharged dishonorably.Even though we had planes coming and going OUR mail was often weeksoverdue or did not arrive at all and it was understood that it was censored to a small degree and I did hear of arrests being made for contraband so it was happening.Also I went to Guantanamo bay to fix a plane and although I did get a few beers in (lol) I slept inthe hanger so I could leave quickly .As long as someones making sure these folk have truly committed crimes or conspired to I just can not see what we are doing wrong ?
rick, it’s all the ACLU’s fault.Just ask our resident nitwitpaulfrosell.That meme is so old that I laugh when I see it.
TracyThe ACLU is very UN American.They do what they can to promote dissent, as along as that action does not hurt their pet causes.(Notice that the ACLU supports Nazis and Phelps, when it comes to “free speech” — which actually means “promoting turbulence” but that the ACLU has rarely, if ever, gone to court to support the free speech of an anti abortion protester.)Call it “meme” all you want, but your characterization doesn’t fit. The ACLU is a player in nearly every political issue, and they are almost always on the wrong side.The voters know this well.Goyle knows it as well.That is why Raj Goyle will NOT put his ACLU employment, or his “Center for American Progress” work in his campaign brochures.
DougThis thread opened with criticism of the government for not limiting the activities of federal prisoners.My point is that we CANT limit what prisoners read or say or do, because of the ACLU and people like Raj Goyle!This Blog opened with
paulfrossell you are just too predictable.
ACLU – EEK!!!!!
The ACLU went to bat for the Amish right to ride their buggies on public streets. For that Raj Goyle should be burned at the stake!
/sarcasm off