A federal judge today threw out the piracy charge against six Somalis accused of attacking the Little Creek-based Ashland, dealing a blow to the government’s attempt to revive a piracy statute that had not been used in nearly 200 years.I guess they were just skeet shooting.
The Somalis still face seven other charges in the April 10 attack on the Ashland off the coast of Africa, but the piracy charge carried the harshest penalty – life in prison. They remain accused of firing on the Navy ship.
“The court finds that the government has failed to establish that any unauthorized acts of violence or aggression committed on the high seas constitutes piracy,” U.S. District Judge Raymond A. Jackson says in his ruling.
Some day I must visit that curious world some of our Judges live in. In this case, a Clinton Appointee.
