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Moussaoui to Rot in Prison

Yesterday's jury verdict recommending that Moussaoui serve life in prison without parole rather than the death sentence produced mixed reactions, both on the severity of the sentence and whether Moussaoui or the United States had "won."  Norm Pattis expressed his views on the verdict here and why he views it as a hopeful step in the war on terror:

"That's no victory for Moussaoui. The man who wanted to be hated was, in fact, pitied. A jury of ordinary people heard testimony about the horror of 9-11, and no doubt recalled their own fears and anxieties arising from that day. Then that jury deliberated, calmly, and without letting passion and prejudice foul their judgment. The result was not a decision to respond to hate with hate, but to understand.

"This verdict is one of the most hopeful things I have seen since 9-11. We've been stampeding around under the lash of fear-mongers for five years, and now, suddenly, a group of ordinary folks have said 'enough is enough.'

"Even Moussaoui knew this was no win. All his fist pumping and trash talking at trial took place after the judge and jury had left the room. Even he had respect for the decorum of the court, showing that at some level the notion of the rule of law is not foreign to him.

"Moussaoui is now destined to spend the rest of his life in solitary confinement in a maximum security prison. It is a sad but necessary outcome.

"We won an important battle in the war on terror with the Moussaoui verdict. Call it a triumph over fear and hate."

Posted by Carolyn Elefant on May 4, 2006 at 02:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

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