[CLUE-Talk] Anyone heard about this? Free Mike Hawash

[Alex Young]

----- Original Message -----
From: "Randy Arabie" <randy at arabie.org>
Date: Thu, 07 Aug 2003 16:30:26 -0400 
To: clue-talk at clue.denver.co.us, clue-talk at clue.denver.co.us
Subject: Re: [CLUE-Talk] Anyone heard about this? Free Mike Hawash

> 
> 
> > On Thu, 7 Aug 2003 13:32:27 -0600 Jed wrote:
> > 
> > Hey, those corrections were already there when I read it.
> > 
> > A testimony to the flexibility of the brain as a pattern-matching
> > processor, eh? Except sometimes maybe it's too good?
> > 
> > Oh, BTW, the other sorta similar story in the news lately is about the
> > publisher of raisethefist.com -- it's been on Slashdot, Instapundit, 
> et.
> > al. The news coverage mentions that he accepted a plea bargain, in 
> part
> > (or in full?) because of the threat of having the charges against him
> > escalated to include terrorism, carrying with it the possibility of a
> > 20-year sentence.
> > 
> > As to Hawash, I note that part of the agreement is that he provide 
> info
> > and testimony WRT the rest of the Portland 7, and presumably, anybody 
> else
> > he's aware of. I think this is telling. If he had told prosecutors, "I
> > accept a plea bargain, but I'm afraid I just don't have the 
> information
> > you're after", would that have been reported? Probably not -- we'd 
> have
> > heard only that he accepted a plea arrangement, and the barest of the
> > terms of it.
> > 
> > jed
> 
> This appears to be the entire text of the Hawash plea bargin:
> 
> http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/news/1043672261
> 147451.xml
> 
> There's a lot of detailed allegations there that *should* have a 
> substantial paper trial backing them up.  Seems if these were 
> just "cooked up" it wouldn't be all that hard for someone to dispute.
> -- 
> Allons Rouler!
> 
> Randy

Well, as much as this is likely the case, I am still horrified at the way Mike was held for 5 weeks as a "Material Witness".
He was pretty clearly not ever considered a material witness.    That was just a sneaky way around the Fifth Amendment.

There are plenty of other people being held this way right now, some have been held as long as 15 months without charges being brought against them.

I can't understand why we are tolerating this from our government.  The Constitution is being treated like a dirty rag in the name of protectionism.   

Anyone who is tempted to ignore the violation of our basic liberties to feel safe should really go rent "The Siege" and reconsider that thought

Some of the people the government detains this way are a threat.   Many aren’t.     The biggest threat however is that we will give away our freedoms to feel safe.    That sense of safety makes everyone live in fear however.    Fear of the state and fear of one another.

-Alex

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