Criminal Law: Substantive

A grand jury in Ohio has indicted Abdirahman Sheik Mohamud, a recently-naturalized US citizen and resident of Columbus, with two material support counts (and one false statement count) based on allegations that he traveled to Syria to fight, that he received military-style training from al Nusrah, and that he came back to the United States after receiving directions from "a cleric in the organization" who told him "he should return to the United States and carry out an act of terrorism

James Connell III, lawyer for 9/11 accused Ammar al-Baluchi, had this to say today:

"The CIA and its defenders are using Mr. al Baluchi as a scapegoat for its illegal and reprehensible use of torture," said James Connell, civilian attorney for Mr. al Baluchi.  "The United States spent incredible amounts of money, energy, and American credibility, and now the CIA is pointing at Mr.

Does translating “radical” Arab texts and videos amount to material support for terrorism? That is the question that would face the Supreme Court, should they decide to take up Mehanna v. United States. (For full background and facts on the case, see our extensive prior coverage here.)

The basic facts of Mehanna are simple.

Attorney General Holder gave an important speech in Oslo today, highlighting the threat posed by "foreign fighters" in Syria who may one day return to Europe or the United States.  He advocated a four-pronged approach that he urged all concerned countries to involve, including (i) adoption of the sort of criminal laws that have enabled the United States to intervene preemptively in terrorism-related cases (particularly the "material support" concept), (ii) use of undercover operations to smoke out suspects, (iii) better international information-sharing regarding persons traveling to and from