Opinion ID: 201036
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Reid's Motions for Access to Time

Text: 20 Reid initially challenged these restrictions in June 2002, when he indicated his intent to subscribe to Time and filed a motion to prevent the government from interfering with the magazine's delivery. Because Reid had not yet subscribed to Time, however, the district court denied the motion as not ripe. 21 Reid actually began subscribing to Time in September 2002. Initially, it appears, the magazine was delivered to him complete and without undue delay. Then, on October 30, the government informed defense counsel that it had removed an article about terrorism from Reid's October 21, 2002 issue of Time under the Mail Seizure provision of the SAMs. Reid tried to challenge that decision through administrative channels, cf. 28 C.F.R. § 501.3(e) (providing that inmates subjected to SAMs may seek review through an administrative process), but the government successfully took the position that administrative remedies were unavailable to Reid, apparently because he had not yet been sentenced. 22 Reid responded by filing a renewed motion in the district court to enjoin the government from interfering with his Time subscription. He argued that government's censorship of his subscription violated his First Amendment rights. Reid also sought permission to purchase a radio, which was prohibited by the SAMs. 23 The government defended the SAMs and their application to Reid's Time subscription and radio request as reasonably necessary for valid penological and national security purposes. The government justified this argument in part by reference to materials filed under seal. Certain outbound correspondence from Reid had been seized during his confinement in Massachusetts. The substance of that correspondence is not at issue in this case; the government submitted it simply to substantiate its claim (articulated in public) that Reid had indeed attempted to communicate with others while in custody. 3 The government also emphasized that Reid is an admitted member of al Qaeda, a terrorist organization that, according to the government, trains its members to exploit innocent-looking communications to relay coded messages to and from prison in the event of capture. 24 On January 2, 2003, the district court held a hearing on Reid's motion. As to the radio, the motion was denied, and Reid has not appealed that decision. As to Time magazine, the court denied Reid's motion as moot after the government offered to give Reid the only two Time articles it had yet seized under the SAMs. 4 The court agreed to be available on short notice if the government further interfered with Reid's access to the magazine. 25 Approximately one week later, Reid filed another motion concerning his Time subscription. He explained that the government had informed him after the January 2 hearing that (1) all further issues of Time magazine would be held by the USMS for thirty days before delivery, with the possibility that some terrorism-related materials would be withheld longer or even permanently, and that (2) all letters to the editor would be removed and withheld permanently. He again sought to enjoin the government from interfering with the complete and prompt delivery of the magazine. 26 A new hearing was scheduled for January 21. The government told the district court that withholding the Time letters was necessary to ensure that Time did not unwittingly become a vehicle for al Qaeda agents to convey coded messages to Reid in prison. The defense attacked that argument, pointing out that Time publishes only 2-3% of the letters it receives and that those letters are subject to fact-checking and other editorial control. The government responded that deleting the letters was a reasonable exercise of penological discretion under the SAMs because coded messages in the letters — the possibility of which, the government said, could not be ruled out completely — might provoke outbursts by Reid and might enable him to continue his criminal activities through outgoing correspondence. 27 The district court expressed some skepticism about the government's argument, observing: 28 Mr. Reid is a very tall individual. But he's not ten feet tall. And this constant reiteration of we've got to keep data away from him, we've got to keep his data out of the hands of the public lest disaster befall, respectfully, is wearing a bit thin. 29 Nevertheless, the court denied Reid's motion on the ground that the SAMs permitted the restriction: 30 I don't see any right that [Reid] has articulated to receive Time Magazine that would overcome the appropriate general concerns set forth in the SAMs. I've respected the SAMs throughout.... And while I see nothing wrong with letting him have Time Magazine... I see no right for him to have Time Magazine. 31 The court added that it was persuaded to rule for the government in part because of Reid's ongoing intent to harm the United States: I make no bones about that. This man shows an ongoing intent of hostility to the United States and I, I have that very much in mind. 32 Reid filed this interlocutory appeal on January 27, 2003. Three days later, on January 30, Reid was sentenced to life in prison, and on the following day he was committed to the custody of the Bureau of Prisons (BOP). On February 4, 2003, the BOP transferred Reid from Massachusetts to ADX Florence, the maximum security facility in Colorado where he will serve his sentence.