Mixed Reactions as Moussaoui Heads to Supermax
May 4, 2006 — -- The families of those who died in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks have met the jury's surprising decision to sentence admitted al Qaeda conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui to life in prison instead of death with mixed reactions.
To many who thought he deserved the death penalty, it was a slap in the face. Others thought life in prison was a fitting punishment.
"There's absolutely nothing in this country that all 9/11 family members are going to agree upon except that the attacks should never happen again, and I respect everyone's opinion," said Carie Lemack, whose mother, Judy Larocque, died on American Airlines Flight 11, which was flown into the World Trade Center.
"I think what's important is that we make sure Moussaoui not get what he wants, which is to become a martyr and go down in history being someone bigger than he was. I'm glad that the jury looked at the evidence and realized he's just an al Qaeda wannabe."
President Bush, who said that Moussaoui "got a fair trial," accepted the jury's decision.
"A jury convicted him to life in prison where he'll spend the rest of his life," Bush said. "In so doing they spared his life, which is something he evidently wasn't willing to do for innocent American citizens."
To sentence Moussaoui to death, jurors needed to be unanimous in their decision. However, the panel of nine men and three women was unable to agree unanimously after seven days of deliberation.
"Three jurors found that the defendant's role in the 9/11 operation, if any, was minor," said Ed Adams, a court spokesman.
The decision to spare Moussaoui outraged Margaret Pothier, whose relative was killed in the attacks.
"If not the death penalty for this, when?" she said.
23 Hours of Solitary Confinement
For Lemack, a co-founder of Families of September 11 and a co-founder of The Family Steering Committee, which worked closely with the 9/11 Commission, this decision makes sense.
"I thought about it last night, and what I really want is a hug from my mom," she said. "When I looked at the news and heard he's [Moussaoui] going to be 23 hours a day alone, and the next hours he's outside of the cell but still alone, it made me feel a little more relieved to think he never gets a hug from his mother again."
Moussaoui faces 23 hours a day in confinement at the United States Penitentiary Administrative Maximum Facility -- also known as Alcatraz of the Rockies and Supermax -- in Florence, Colo.
He'll spend his time in a 7-by-12-foot cell located 60 feet below ground, with fireproof concrete furniture and flood-proof steel plumbing. His only luxury will be a 13-inch black-and-white TV that only broadcasts classes on parenting, anger management and religion.
Supermax is also home to some of the nation's most infamous and violent criminals.
The so-called "shoe bomber" Richard Reid, who pleaded guilty to trying to blow up a trans-Atlantic flight in December 2001 with explosives in his shoe; "Unabomber" Ted Kaczynski; Oklahoma City conspirator Terry Nichols; Olympic Park bomber Eric Rudolph; and the men behind the 1993 World Trade Center attack all reside in the prison.
Moussaoui will never see them, though, because all Supermax prisoners are in solitary confinement.
"If you're having problems with isolation, if you're having problems with contact with no people, this is not where you want to be," said Jim Bruton, author of "The Big House: Life Inside a Supermax Prison."