[Marxism] (no subject)

["Fred Feldman" <ffeldman@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

The Moussaoui trial was a miscarriage of justice, and the post trial
hearings on the penalty have set new records, including the pressuring
of the judge to go along with the execution when she clearly indicated
her conviction that her legal obligations required her to block the
death penalty.  The centrality of  9/11 victims' families outrage in the
proceedings has highlighted the way so-called victims' rights  can be
and routinely are used to create a virtual lynch atmosphere.

The judge has clearly caved in on the issue of allowing the government
to portray failure to confess as justification for execution, although
she still occassionally voices a little dismay at the government's drive
for death. What juror would dare be so heartless as todeny these
relatives their sacred right to closure by watching somebody take the
lethal injection or whatever?

Now came the orgiastic point where the victims and relatives get to
exercise their "rights" -- which are actually not rights but powers of
the prosecutor, including their right to press the families into
becoming a key public relations component of the prosecution team.

The practice of whipping up the families -- through counselors etc. who
teach that the road to restored happiness is revenge against -- turn the
defendeant into a sacrificial victim in a ceremony in which he must get
the max in order to salve the hurt of  the victim (if living) or the
families.  (Everybody who knows  the victim and can be convinced to make
vengeance their life work becomes a victim in this process.  Of course,
the occassional family members who can't be suckered into pushing for
the max and raging for the tabloids are simply cast aside as wimpy
pacifists and  won't be heard by the jury, and will be ignored or
dismissed by the media.

As for Moussaoui, he reminds me more and more of Conrad's Lord Jim who
failed what he considered a test of courage and spent the rest of his
life proving his worthiness to be a martyr-hero.  He has clearly
campaigned as aggressively as the prosecution for his own execution.
Most unexpected was his implication of Richard Reid, the "shoe bomber,"
as his co-conspirator in bombing the Capitol or White House or
Smithsonian Institution  or whatever. This opens Reid to retrial in the
United States on capital charges.  I very much doubt that he is under
any Al Qaeda control whatever.  He is now pursuing a purely personal
agenda.

Fred Feldman

Counterpunch Weekend Edition
April 7--9, 2006

What Kind of Justice is This?

The Moussaoui Trial

By ELAINE CASSEL

On April 3, after four days of deliberation, an Alexandria, Virginia
federal court jury found Zacarias Moussaoui eligible for the death
penalty -- on the ground that he had conspired to use airplanes as
weapons of mass destruction, resulting in the deaths of Americans on
September 11. (The jury still must decide whether to impose the death
penalty.)

Prior to its finding, the jury heard some surprising in-court testimony:
Moussaoui claimed for the first time that he and "shoe bomber" Richard
Reid had planned to fly a plane into the White House, as a part of a
plan that culminated in the September 11 attacks. He also led the jury
to believe that he knew more about the planned attacks than anyone had
imagined.

Does that mean the case is now neatly tied up? Hardly. These
"admissions" suffer from a dramatic lack of credibility, in the face of
the rest of the evidence in the case (including doubts about Moussaoui's
competence).

As a result, Moussaoui may be sentenced to death not for what he did or
did not do, but for his lies about what he did or did not do or know.


What the Evidence Against Moussaoui Truly Does Establish

Here is what the evidence does show that Moussaoui did, and knew: He was
a supporter of al Qaeda. He traveled to the United States in an attempt
to learn to fly an airplane, so that he might be a part of some scheme
(the details of which he was not sure) to take place after a major
attack (the date of which he did not know).

Accordingly, prior to this sentencing trial, Moussaoui pled guilty in
this proceeding to broad conspiracy charges--not to involvement in the
September 11 attacks.

Did that plea merit the death penalty? The government argued that it did
because, while in immigration detention prior to September 11, under
government questioning, Moussaoui failed to reveal what he knew about
the plot--and thus, the government contended, he failed to prevent the
September 11 attacks. They allege that before he invoked his right not
to answer government questions, he lied when he said he knew nothing
about any pending terrorism schemes.

The problem with this argument, though, is that like all those facing
custodial government questioning, Moussaoui had the Fifth Amendment
right to remain silent.

Thus, had Moussaoui not made his startling in-court "admissions," the
jury would have been left with the difficult question of whether
Moussaoui ought to face death not for the acts to which he pled guilty,
but for his silence, through which he exercised a constitutional right.


Testimony Without Corroboration From Any Other Evidence

No wonder, then, that the government was elated by Moussaoui's startling
new "admissions." But viewed in the light of the rest of the evidence,
these supposed admissions are extremely hard to believe. Indeed, they
are totally uncorroborated.

Here's the evidence:

In videotaped testimony, other al Qaeda members said Moussaoui was so
bumbling and incompetent, bin Laden would have never trusted him with
anything. Similarly, Moussaoui was brought to the attention of the FBI
because his flight school instructor was alarmed at how poorly he was
doing--and in particular, because he openly said that he wanted to learn
to fly large jets but had no interest in obtaining a pilot's license.

The FBI never searched Moussaoui's laptop computer for evidence of a
potential hijacking conspiracy. If Moussaoui had indeed been directly
involved in September 11, it seems very likely that the evidence
surrounding him would have led the government to do such a search.

Imagine, for instance, if it had been Mohammed Atta who had been cast
under suspicion by his flight instructor instead. It seems impossible to
believe that the government could not have gotten into Atta's laptop
based on evidence about Atta.

But Moussaoui was not Atta--and, as the September 11 Commission report
explains, even when the FBI took information about Moussaoui to then-CIA
head George Tenet, he was unimpressed.

The September 11 commission report concluded that Moussaoui had no
direct involvement in September 11.

Why would Moussaoui lie? First, he is psychologically
unbalanced--perhaps even schizophrenic. Second, if he perceives that a
death sentence is inevitable anyway, he may want to taunt and anger the
jurors and public as much as possible, by claiming far greater
responsibility than, in fact, he had.


The Jury's Next Decision: Death, or Life Without Parole?

After Moussaoui's surprising testimony, will the jury sentence him to
death? It seems certain they will.

These jurors are "death-qualified": Each said he or she was willing to
inflict the death penalty. (Though the Sixth Amendment guarantees an
"impartial" jury, the Supreme Court has sanctioned "death
qualification.") Unsurprisingly, studies have shown that
"death-qualified" jurors are far more likely to convict a defendant and
vote to impose a death sentence.

[snip]










Elaine Cassel practices law in Virginia and the District of Columbia and
teaches law and psychology. She doesn't like being lied to. Her new book
The War on Civil Liberties: How Bush and Ashcroft Have Dismantled the
Bill of Rights, is published by Lawrence Hill. She can be reached at:
ecassel1@xxxxxxx








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