Nearly all of the highest-profile domestic terrorism plots in the United States since 9/11 featured the direct involvement of government agents or informants, a new report says. Some of the controversial sting operations were proposed or led by informants, bordering on entrapment by law enforcement. Yet the courtroom obstacles to proving entrapment are significant, one of the reasons the stings persist. The lengthy report, released on Monday by Human Rights Watch, raises questions about the US criminal justice systems ability to respect civil rights and due process in post-9/11 terrorism cases. It portrays a system that features not just the sting operations but secret evidence, anonymous juries, extensive pretrial detentions and convictions significantly removed from actual plots. Out of the 494 cases related to terrorism the US has tried since 9/11, the plurality of convictions – 18% overall – are not for thwarted plots but for material support charges, a broad category expanded further by the 2001 Patriot Act that permits prosecutors to pursue charges with tenuous connections to a terrorist act or group.
Posted on: Mon, 21 Jul 2014 13:48:36 +0000
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