Sleeper Scenario: Terrorism-Support Laws and the Demands of Prevention

• NCJ Number: 209367
• Journal: Harvard Journal on Legislation Volume: 42 Issue: 1 Dated: Winter 2005 Pages: 1-89
• Author(s): Robert M. Chesney
• Date Published: 2005
• Length: 89 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Legislation/Policy Analysis
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This article examines the nature and significance of the impact of September 11th on Federal criminal law enforcement, critiques the terrorism-support laws that are the foundation for the U.S. Justice Department's terrorism prevention efforts, and proposes reforms intended to address civil liberties concerns and close gaps in existing law.

Abstract

Part 1 reviews the origins and evolution of the terrorism-support laws, which provides the background for part 2. Part 2 describes the impact of September 11th regarding two changes: the adoption of a terrorism prevention paradigm within the Justice Department and the emergence of institutional competition between prosecutors and the military concerning the incapacitation of suspected terrorists within the United States. The author argues that these factors have led Federal prosecutors to adopt creative interpretations of terrorism-support laws in addressing the "sleeper" scenario, which pertains to persons in the United States alleged to have terrorist ties but who have not committed any crime in the United States. Part 3 critiques the terrorism-support laws from both a civil liberties and a national security perspective, followed by proposed legislative reforms in part 4. The author proposes making it a crime for a person subject to U.S. jurisdiction to receive firearms or explosives training from any source while outside the United States without an ex ante license. He also recommends making it a crime for a person subject to U.S. jurisdiction to join a designated foreign terrorist organization as an active member with the specific intent to further the illegal goals of the organization. Finally, he recommends incorporating a battery of safeguards into existing terrorism-support laws, including the adoption of a graduated scale of punishment that corresponds to the defendant's criminal intent in material-support cases. 454 notes