Hey Sue

[liberty]

Sue did you know this guy?

Yahoo comments:

noName, NoCity, Malawi, 1 day ago
He certainly needs to pay back to US Society for the crime he committed.
ReplyNew CommentNew


Vinod patel, London, United Kingdom, 1 day ago
Send him to Guantano Bay for the rest of his sentence
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B J Deller, Malaga Spain, Spain, 1 day ago
Black Panthers, one of the most racist groups in the USA., Leave him in Cuba, they need the labourers there.



http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... ce-US.html

Homesick Black Panther who hijacked plane and flew it to Cuba set to return to face justice in U.S.
• William Potts, 56, is due to land in Florida today for the first time in 30 years
• Hijacked plane at gunpoint in 1984 and forced it to fly to Communist state
• Jailed in Cuba for 13 years and then started family but wants to return home
By Becky Evans and Ap Reporter

A former Black Panther, who hijacked a plane and forced it to fly to Cuba, is set to return to the U.S. to face justice today.
William Potts said he is homesick and wants to return to America for the first time in almost three decades.
Mr Potts, 56, who has been working with U.S. diplomats in Havana in recent weeks to get a passport, said they told him yesterday that his travel arrangements were made and he could leave on a charter flight to Miami today.
William Potts is due to return to the U.S. today for the first time since he hijacked a plane in 1984 and forced it to take him to Cuba where he has lived since

Mr Potts has worked with U.S. diplomats in Havana to secure a passport and return to Miami
Because the two countries have no extradition treaty, Mr Potts was beyond the reach of U.S. justice but he still faces an indictment for air piracy that could carry a 20-year prison sentence.
He hopes the 13 years he served in Cuba for the hijacking will be taken into consideration by U.S. authorities but admits he may be sent to prison.

Mr Potts said he seeks 'closure' by facing the U.S. justice system.
He argues that the time he served in the Combinado del Este prison outside Havana should mitigate further punishment back home.
'I'm ready for whatever,' Potts said. 'My position is, of course, I did the crime and I did the time, and the United States has to recognize that.'
Mr Potts was jailed after hijacking a commercial plane in 1984 when he pulled a gun hidden in a plaster cast and forced it to land in Cuba, where he expected authorities to offer him guerrilla training.
Instead he was sentenced to 15 years in prison.
Since his release, he settled down became a farmer and had two daughters with his second wife.

Revolutionary Times: Armed members of the Black Panther Party leave the Capitol in Sacramento May 2nd, 1967
He was granted permanent residency in Cuba and he and his now ex-wife live in a modest Soviet-style apartment block east of Havana.
Mr Potts said: 'I've got kind of mixed emotions, let me say that at least, about touching American soil for the first time in nearly 30 years.
'So much has changed, and I'm just going to have to wait and see what it looks like when I get there.'
WHO WERE THE BLACK PANTHERS?
The Black Panther Party was a revolutionary organization in the U.S. calling for empowerment of African Americans and protection from police brutality.
Set up in 1966, the leaders of the group backed socialist and Marxist doctrines and eventually had affiliations with Communist Cuba.
The organization created a Ten-Point Program that cemented its economic and political grievances and the party gained national prominence during the rest of the 1960s and 1970s.
The party was officially disbanded in the early 1980s.
Notable Black Panther members fled to Cuba, including Assata Shakur - the aunt of murdered rapper Tupac Shakur.
She was accused of murdering two New Jersey State Troopers in 1973 and indited in relation to other crimes including attempted murder and armed robbery.
She escaped from prison in 1979 and has been living in Cuba in political asylum since 1984.
He said his understanding was that he would be escorted by U.S. officials and delivered into the custody of U.S. marshals on arrival in Florida.
'What happens after that I couldn't tell you,' he said. 'I hope to be arraigned soon.'
In the 1960s and early '70s, there were dozens of American hijackings to Cuba.
As a way of discouraging them, both sides signed a 1971 agreement under which each government agreed to prosecute hijackers or return them to the other country.
The U.S. has limited travel to Cuba since 1960 when Fidel Castro came to power.
The rules were amended in 2011 to allow all Americans to visit Cuba but direct flights by U.S. airlines are still illegal.
It is unclear what stance U.S. authorities will take against Mr Potts as the U.S. Interests Section, FBI and Cuban officials did not have any comment on his case.
U.S. authorities have aggressively prosecuted some returning fugitives, while others saw their sentences reduced significantly for time served elsewhere.
Even though Potts intends to continue to call Cuba home for the foreseeable future, he decided to return to the U.S. and take his chances with the legal system.
The pending case against him keeps him from living his life fully, he said.
He said: 'It's time it had closure. Why leave it hanging, why leave this gaping uncertainty?
'So I want to resolve that because... having completed my sentence, I feel like I want to put all that stuff behind me.
'I don't want that lingering over or impeding anything I might want to do. Once you've paid your debt to society you're entitled to a fresh start.'
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[dgs49]

Decline to prosecute.

Definitely.

I'd rather not be supporting this guy for the rest of his life.

[Sue U]

Sue did you know this guy?

Why in the world would you think I know this guy?

As for resolving his issues, I would say let him plead guilty with a sentence of time served in Cuba.

I doubt he was much of a Black Panther; he's my age, and the Panthers were pretty well done by the time I reached adulthood.

[liberty]

Sue did you know this guy?

Why in the world would you think I know this guy?

Well perhaps I got my Sues mixed up; it wouldn’t be the first time. I was under the impression that you were a communist and that you supported the soviet during the Cold War that would have made you and this guy comrades, so you might have traveled in he same circles, but like I said, I have been wrong before.

As for resolving his issues, I would say let him plead guilty with a sentence of time served in Cuba.

It has been a long time, the war is over and we did win, thanks to Ronny, so we can to afford to be generous: We could make him a deal. If he surrenders his citizenship we would give him a green card. As long as he stays out of our politics he could live here, otherwise he would be deported back to Cuba in accordance with his pre-agreement.
How does foreign country have a right to enforce US laws?

I doubt he was much of a Black Panther; he's my age, and the Panthers were pretty well done by the time I reached adulthood.

You came along late, you missed all the good stuff like Vietnam.

[Lord Jim]

I would say let him plead guilty with a sentence of time served in Cuba.

I couldn't disagree more...

I doubt he was much of a Black Panther

I don't care if he was a Rotarian....

The guy hijacked a plane...

This is a serious act of terrorism. He terrorized and endangered the lives of of hundreds of people. His ideology or motives are of no interest to me; it's his actions that he needs to be punished for.

He did 13 years in a Cuban prison? Fine, I say give him another 17 to serve here; 30 sounds about right.

[Jarlaxle]

Accidentally run him over with a truck en-route to the court house.

[Sue U]

The guy hijacked a plane...

This is a serious act of terrorism. He terrorized and endangered the lives of of hundreds of people. His ideology or motives are of no interest to me; it's his actions that he needs to be punished for.

He did 13 years in a Cuban prison? Fine, I say give him another 17 to serve here; 30 sounds about right.

I agree that this was a serious crime (although I'm not sure whether it actually constituted an act of "terrorism"); that it endangered the lives of the passengers (although probably more like "dozens" rather than "hundreds"); and that his underlying ideology is irrelevant. But the U.S. penalty for aircraft piracy is a 20-year minimum prison sentence. With good behavior and/or parole eligibility, an offender could actually serve as little as one-third or less of the sentence imposed, so even if you gave him a 30-year sentence he would most likely be out at 13 years anyway. He's been punished, and I don't see him as constituting so much of a threat anymore that he needs to be removed from society.

Well perhaps I got my Sues mixed up; it wouldn’t be the first time. I was under the impression that you were a communist and that you supported the soviet during the Cold War that would have made you and this guy comrades, so you might have traveled in he same circles, but like I said, I have been wrong before.

I'm not a Communist, I'm a Socialist; I have previously set out some of the problems I have with Communism and Leninism in particular, so I didn't "support the soviet during the Cold War," although I did think the "Cold War" was a stupid idea for both sides; and nothing about William Potts indicates he is actually a Communist, Socialist or a "comrade" of mine in any respect or that we "traveled in [t]he same circles."

It has been a long time, the war is over and we did win, thanks to Ronny, so we can to afford to be generous: We could make him a deal. If he surrenders his citizenship we would give him a green card. As long as he stays out of our politics he could live here, otherwise he would be deported back to Cuba in accordance with his pre-agreement.
How does foreign country have a right to enforce US laws?

This guy wasn't part of any "war." And committing a crime doesn't mean that you should be stripped of your citizenship or permanently banned from participation in the political process. That is simply not part of any criminal penalty even remotely applicable to this case.

As for a foreign country "enforc[ing] US laws," Cuba arrested, tried, convicted and sentenced Potts under its own law. The US and Cuba have had an agreement for more than 40 years that hijackers between the countries would either be subject to criminal prosecution at the destination or returned to the country of origin for criminal proceedings.

Here, Potts has already served his time for the crime he committed. I don't know that it's necessary or even legal to make him do it again, considering the agreement with Cuba that hijackers be prosecuted for their crime in either country.

[Lord Jim]

I don't see him as constituting so much of a threat anymore

I will stipulate that it is unlikely that he will hijack another plane....

Recidivism is probably not an important consideration here....

But punishment is...

the U.S. penalty for aircraft piracy is a 20-year minimum prison sentence.

So that's the "minimum"...

And what's the "maximum"?

ETA:

Oh, I forgot to make mention of this:

Decline to prosecute.

Definitely.

Gee Dave, you've become an old softie in your old age...

Are you sure you haven't become a Democrat?

[rubato]

At most they could get him to serve the difference, 7 years. Possibly subtracting time off for good behavior, if that was the law at the time. But the mutual agreement w/ Cuba to prosecute hijackers really did put a stop to a burgeoning crime. It was not the harshness of the punishments it was their certainty which made the difference.*

While admitting that hijacking is a serious and violent crime it is also true that we have sentences for most crimes which are stupidly excessive and self-injuring. If I were the God of Justice I'd try him, convict him, and give him a year in the clink or less.

yrs,
rubato

* As much data has shown: harsh sentences are far less effective than lighter but more certain ones.

[Joe Guy]

* As much data has shown: harsh sentences are far less effective than lighter but more certain ones.

How true... Especially when it comes to rapists and child molesters...

[rubato]

* As much data has shown: harsh sentences are far less effective than lighter but more certain ones.

How true... Especially when it comes to rapists and child molesters...

Do try to re-form that into a cogent comment. If you are able to understand that a sentence written about crime in general without pretending it refers only to a sub-class of crimes.

************ now it 17% nicer!



yrs,
rubato

[Joe Guy]

[oldr_n_wsr]

If he's really homesick he could just sneak in and become an illegal aliena day laborer.
What he really wants is to get rich by writing a book of his life and is in need of customers/readers.

[liberty]

I'm not a Commuist, I'm a Socialist; I have previously set out some of the problems I have with Communism and Leninism in particular, so I didn't "support the soviet during the Cold War," although I did think the "Cold War" was a stupid idea for both sides; and nothing about William Potts indicates he is actually a Communist, Socialist or a "comrade" of mine in any respect or that we "traveled in [t]he same circles."

Well, Socialist you say. Could it be some other poster around here that I was thinking of and confused with you? At any rate socialist is a horse of a different color, perhaps pink but not blood red. Generally socialist are not known for their large body counts. However, I could say that both the Nazis and Communist, Russian and Chinese and in spite of Mussolini’s denials, the Fascist were all socialist to varying degrees. But I know what you mean; you are referring to democratic socialism.

And as far as socialism goes our own country has some socialist programs, social security for example. At least nationalization of private property should never be problem here; the Constitution prohibits the taking of property without just compensation.

[MajGenl.Meade]

If he changed his name in Cuba at all, you could have used the subject line "Heysues"

[liberty]

If he changed his name in Cuba at all, you could have used the subject line "Heysues"

Clever Meade, especially for a second rate Yankee general.