Gitmo-bashing judge rebuked; lax sentence for millennium bomber rejected
Hell has frozen over. Pigs are sprouting wings. The left-leaning 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has removed a moonbat judge from the botched LAX millenium bomber case and ruled that his sentence was too short, unreasonable, and in blatant violation of federal sentencing guidelines.
The story is breaking. Seattle P-I reports:
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ordered that Ahmed Ressam, a convicted terrorist arrested in December 1999 in Port Angeles with a car full of explosives, be sentenced again. And this time, the court has ordered that U.S. District Judge John Coughenour, who presided over Ressam’s trial and his sentencing and re-sentencing, not be involved.
Ressam also will likely face a much longer sentence, given that the appeals court noted several times how much lighter his 22-year sentence was than what sentencing guildelines call for. In a 2-1 decision, the court’s majority said Coughenour’s sentence — 43 years below the low range of the federal sentencing guidelines — was “both procedurally and substantively unreasonable.”
It concluded: “The district judge’s previously expressed views appear too entrenched to allow for the appearance of fairness on remand. For these reasons, we direct that the case be reassigned to a different judge for resentencing.” A new judge could be assigned in three weeks, prosecutors said. Ressam’s attorneys could appeal, and they have not responded to requests for comment. The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Seattle, which has sought a longer sentence, greeted the appeals court ruling with approval,
“Our primary mission is to protect the public. We are gratified that the Court of Appeals recognized the importance of public safety at sentencing and that Mr. Ressam remains a threat to the public.” said U.S. Attorney Jenny A. Durkan in a statement. “We have the greatest respect for Judge John Coughenour and his hard work on a difficult case. However, we maintain that to protect the public, and deter others, a longer prison sentence is necessary.” In December 2008, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Seattle appealed the 22-year sentence imposed Ressam. Ressam, an Algerian, had intended to set off the explosives at Los Angeles International Airport around New Year’s Eve 1999.
And from the LA Times:
Ressam was detained in Washington state in December 1999 when he attempted to smuggle explosives into the United States on a ferry from Canada with plans to detonate them at LAX. He initially cooperated with interrogators and provided what Coughenour termed vital insight into the workings of terrorist organizations like Al Qaeda.
But Ressam ceased helping federal agents and retracted his statements implicating other terror suspects after being subjected to solitary confinement and what he considered interrogation excesses.
Coughenour twice rejected the federal sentencing recommendation of 65 years in prison for the terrorism conspiracy offense, a position the 9th Circuit panel said constituted procedural error. The judge also failed to consider the potential national security consequences for the U.S. public if Ressam were to be released after only a 22-year term, as he would be only 53 years old, the appeals panel said. Ressam, now 42, has remained incarcerated the federal Supermax prison in Florence, Colo., throughout the legal appeals of his sentence.
I’ve reported on Coughenour’s antics over the years. He’s a notorious terrorist’s little helper who engaged in brazen grandstanding during Ressam’s sentencing in 2005 — using the occasion to pat himself on the back, express his opposition to military tribunals and detention of enemy combatants, and argue in support of applying the full panoply of constitutional rights to foreign al Qaeda conspirators.
More recently, as Morgen Richmond at Verum Serum reported, Coughenhour spoke at George Soros’s Open Society Institute and shrugged off the prospect of Gitmo detainee releases as the “price we pay” for granting them the full panoply of constitutional rights in civilian trials.
His retort: “So be it.”
There are more like him in the judiciary, and you can bet the Gitmo detainees’ lawyers at Eric Holder’s old law firm, Covington and Burling, are court-shopping for them.
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Guess which former Homeland Security Director also works for Covington and Burling?
As long as some Carter judges still live, there are loads of Clinton judges, and B Hussein Obama is appointing activists who detest the Constitution as much as he does to the courts, they’ll be dangerous court cases and miscarriages of justice.
I guess some of the less radical Carter judges slapped down a Clinton judge.
I should check Coughenhour bio, first. But I’m pretty sure.
A Ronald Reagan appointed judge. Must have been a David Souter type closet case…
Just the kind of judge KSM would like to have presiding over his trial in NYC or wherever, don’t you think?
I’m going to go out on a limb here. I bet the moon god worshiping terrorist had dark hair, dark eyes, and brown skin.
I enjoy profiling.
Wow, just wow. The past couple of weeks have been pretty good. Hopefully they will keep coming.
Do you believe the 9th is watching all the KSM/NYC, civilian court v.s. military tribunal ‘mess’ and learning something?
Had there not been this Obama/Holder agenda and the terrorists remained awaiting military tribunals down at Gitmo do you think the liberal 9th would have removed this judge? Hummmm
It’s been that kind of time since Obama took office. A Republican elected in Massachusetts, a filibuster-proof Congress and White House controlled by Democrats not getting anything done, the rise of the Tea Parties, and now the 9th Circus admitting one of its judges was too soft in sentencing a terrorist?
The pigs will be flying by in squadrons soon (Don’t forget your umbrella).
This is proof that judges and justices read the political tea leaves.
Kuhl…
“PIG 193 Heavy, you are clear to land on runway 35 Romeo, over.”
This seems to me a limited solution. There needs to be some way thought of to remove this gentleman from all cases.
I kind of agree…
I recall the story of a Dist. Judge in Denver who was universally thought to be crackers. He could not be removed because he had done nothing in the “high crimes and misdemeanors” realm.
I think there is a lot to say that the judiciary should be independent of political whims, but damn…
The Massachusetts sunami continues…
speaking of Senator-elect Brown, why is he not seated, yet?
In other words, his lawyer told him that Osama said he would have him killed in prison if he didn’t clam up.
Another useful idiot.
Wow, pwned by the 9th circus. That doesn’t happen every day…
Exactly. Provide for the common defense!
I just checked and to my astonishment, Coughenor was nominated by Ronald Reagan and his nomination was confirmed by a Republican Senate. Reagan did have some other clinkers most notably John Noonan and Alex Kozinski (remember his deviant web site). Coughenor has some other strange doings. He struck down the Washinginton State sexual predator law. He also wrote an oped for the New York Times (where else?) in which he savaged Michael Mukasey and he bragged about his own trial of the millenium bomber.
This guy is a turkey if ever there was one. I am surprised that Obama did not make him AG.
Judge John Coughenour: ” Hey, I may be nuts, but at least I don’t play with a penis pump under my robe like some of those Massachusetts judges!”
What, he doesn’t use a pump? Just the old fashioned way.
Let the radical left go right ahead and gather up the scum of the court. This will only serve as more ammunition for conservatives and Republicans to use against Democrat leadership.
Judge John Cougher Mellencamp. Singing away court karaoke hits like… A.L. Q.U.E.D.A. in the U.S.A.
Who are they going to replace him with? Judge Larry Seidlin?
Wow… when the 9th circuit calls you out for being too liberal… that’s scary.
In old Ireland they had a very civilized way of dealing with judges….judges were …responsible for their decisions. As in if a judge awarded damages to one party and it turned out that it was a wrong decision….the judge was responsible for the amount of damage…..and was reduced in rank…to many wrong decisions and he wasn’t a judge anymore. To bad that kind of reasoning got lost….judges now days seem to think they have no responsibility. When a judge lets a child rapist go…he in fact has some responsibility for the rape of the next victim, but modern law gives him a pass. This dolt has been saved from himself, he was not allowed to help this terrorist kill…..this is real life folks…no simple washing of the hands relieves responsibility
Sounds to me like Coughenour should be going to jail.
I recall a similar whacky judge in FL who was removed by the Judicial Qualifications Commission and upheld by the FL Supreme Court. Is there any universal standard for removing a justice?
When these people kill more Americans, turds like Coughenhour should be frog marched to the grave sites, as were the cowardly German citizens living near WWII Nazi concentration camps. Put shovels in their hands and supervise them filling in the graves. “So be it.”
Selah. Consider the matter.
No admirer of the 9th (moonbat) Circuit am I, but according to Wiki, he was appointed to the bench by President Reagan.
the 9th circus got one right.
Hey, I have an idea. Let’s invite, neigh, encourage, more immigration from these wonderful culturally enriching muslim countries. Come on, this poor misunderstood oppressed “combatant” was just trying to provide our dull boring western culture with a little pizazz. But our ridiculous laws that forbid killing innocent people got in the way. Obviously, a sarcasm tag is not needed. If we had any common sense, or even survival instinct left in us, we would ban all immigration from muslim countries immediately (even tourist visas). And any muslim already here who even acts suspicious would be thrown out. If that tee’s off the muslims, or offends the liberal PC idiots, too bad. I don’t care.
THIS is why I’m so angry at Bill Frist and the rest of the Senate Republicans for being such wusses! How many Bush judicial nominees never got an up-or-down vote because of Dem obstruction? “Nuclear Option”, my @$$! Don’t make empty threats! Get on with the work the Constitution specifies!
Aaargh!
Yeah, well, so was Sandy O’Connor. Even Ronaldus Magnus made a mistake or two. Hopefully, President Palin will have a Senate Majority with ‘nads.
The judge must be shocked by the ruling of his comrades on the 9th Circuit, LOL.
Today he is “The Loneliest Liberal.”
I would love to see some documentation of what this quote is refering to…it sounds intriguing