Jeffrey Leon Battle and Patrice Lumumba Ford, two of the seven defendants in the Portland, Oregon terror case, were sentenced today to 18 years in prison.

Ford denounced Bush and his Afghan policiy of "cruise missile diplomacy"at the hearing. Both men stated they intended to protect fellow Muslims. Battle sang a ten minute song he had written in prison, that ended with "Free, free, free, for all humanity, release me."

The Judge was not impressed. He told one of the defendants:

"You do not represent the Muslim faith. Muslims do not engage in the activities you engaged in. You are an insult to that faith."

This is one case we would have liked to have seen litigated. The ACLU and National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL) teamed up to file an Amicus brief in the case challenging the Government's use of the secret FISA court to get wiretaps under the Patriot Act.

the ACLU, joined by the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, says the Justice Department's use of a secret court to get authority for electronic eavesdropping violates constitutional protections of privacy and free speech and against unreasonable searches and seizures.

Defense lawyers in the Portland case have challenged the government's use of secret court-approved wiretaps, the collection of e-mail messages and the planting of microphones in the home of one of the suspects. They claim the covert surveillance approved by a special court under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA, should not have been granted in the case because the defendants are not agents of foreign powers, spies or terrorists, as defined in the act.

We think the sentences are too harsh for these defendants, who tried, but failed, to make it to Afganistan. They were turned back from Pakistan and Afghanistan after reaching China. We also think the LA Times was on target when it reported, "... the group "is more suggestive of bumbling, would-be holy warriors than of soldiers training for deadly missions."

The guilty pleas for Ford and Battle avoided the possibility of life sentences, had they been convicted at trial.

A detailed Portland Oregonian article describing the case, legal challenges and positions of the defense is here. Our coverage of the case is available here.