Terrorism is increasingly complicating the traditional dichotomy between criminal conduct and acts of war. More than ever, policymakers, legal scholars and the public are debating the appropriate roles for civil and military actors in investigating and prosecuting terrorists and terrorism. Today, the United States continues to grapple with a range of dilemmas, from the proper forum for prosecution to the extent of the rights accused. Should accused terrorists be tried by a civilian jury or military commission? Should they be read their Miranda rights? Should their defense attorneys be permitted to review the evidence against their clients?
Latest in Terrorism Trials & Investigations
The people at the Justice Department's National Security Division are not the sort of people who grossly mischaracterize facts in order to make political points. I think the President lied about what Justice Department data shows about the national origin of terrorism convicts.
The FBI makes its second material support arrest of 2017, and three more ISIL-inspired defendants are sentenced.
More ISIL cases wind their way through federal district courts.
AQAP and ISIL travelers sentenced and plead guilty in New York.
Noor Salman, the wife of Orlando shooter, Omar Mateen, is arrested in San Francisco on terrorism charges.
In December, the Justice Department arrested and sentenced not only ISIL supporters, but international arms traffickers providing support to the FARC and members of the Ku Klux Klan targeting Muslims.
After transferring money to an ISIL recruiter, a 20 year old man is arrested at the Columbus airport on his way to join ISIL in Libya.
Chelsea bomber Ahmad Khan Rahami was charged yesterday, and the Federal Defenders are now requesting presentment.
Rahami has been in custody (and in the hospital in Newark) for about two days at this point, and the public record reveals very little about the interrogation process thusfar. Against that backdrop, here are some of the important questions.
Police in New Jersey have located and arrested Ahmad Khan Rahami, the prime suspect in the Chelsea and New Jersey bombings. Now officials face an important—and potentially quite controversial—set of decisions regarding how to go about interrogating Rahami.