ID:

462

Date:

2009-09-28

Headline:

Who Is A Terrorist? Government Failure to Define Terrorism Undermines Enforcement, Puts Civil Liberties at Risk

Reporter's name:

Delay/denial:

No

Lawsuit:

No

Fees:

No

Media outlet:

Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse

City:

Syracuse, NY

Summary:

According to data gleaned from multiple offices, the federal government does not have a single, settled definition for terrorism for the purpose of law-enforcement efforts and criminal prosecutions. The Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys (within the Department of Justice (DOJ)) listed over three thousand prosecutions in terrorism cases, but the courts and DOJ's own National Security Division each only categorized a few hundred cases as involving terrorism. The Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, which obtained and analyzed this data, warned that such inconsistencies might not only diminish civil liberties, but also hinder efforts to prosecute suspected terrorists under American criminal laws.

Keywords:

terrorism, terrorist, Department of Justice, DOJ, National Security Division, criminal prosecution, law enforcement, definition, federal court, assistant United States Attorney, Guantanamo, detainees, Barack Obama, George W. Bush

URL:

http://trac.syr.edu/tracreports/terrorism/215/

Agencies:

DHS
DOJ
FBI
TREAS

States:

DC
NY

Categories:

civil rights
justice
national security
terrorism