Prosecuting Terrorists 

Law 779 
Syracuse University College of Law 
Visiting Assistant Professor William C. Snyder 

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Revised a year ago for the fall 2010 term, Prosecuting Terrorists no longer examines only the law and procedure in Article III courts but will now include a comparative examination of the policy, investigative and substantive law, procedures, and experience with prosecuting terrorists in Article III courts, courts martial, military commissions, international tribunals, or a new national security court.  That is, the Curriculum Committee approved dropping "in Article III Courts" from the name and expanding the scope of the course.  After comparing how various issues of particular interest in terrorism cases are handled in the various fora, students will be encouraged to develop a principled method for determining the best forum for prosecuting terrorists under various conditions. There will be no set textbook for this course.

Fall Term 2011 Syllabus

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I. Principles

Lesson 1
8/22/11

Principles of Counter-Terrorism Prosecutions

  • Methods of counterterrorism
  • Using law enforcement for prevention v. past crimes
  • Disruption through use of immigration, money laundering, and conspiracy law.

 

For class on 8/22/11, please read:

Resources:

  • Optional reading on pedagogy.
  • Audio file of class on 8/22/11.

 

Lesson 2

Modes of Terrorism and Timeline of International Response

For Lesson 2 on 8/24/11, please read handout.

Resources:

  • PowerPoint slides

  • Audio file of class on 8/24/11.

 

II.  Legitimacy

Lesson 3

Legal Authority and Creation of the Courts Systems

 For Lesson 3 on 8/31/11, please read:

Resources:

  • Audio file of class on 8/31/11.

 

III.  The Law

Lessons  4, 5, 6

Definitions of Terrorism

Selected U.S. Code Criminal Statutes

 For Lesson 4 on 9/7/11, please read:

For Lesson 5 on 9/12/11, please read:

  • pages 1 - 26 of handout (2011).

  • Resource: Audio file of Lesson 5.

For Lesson 6 on 9/19/11, please read:

 

Lesson 7

Criminal Offenses under the Military Commissions Act, the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

For Lesson 7 on 9/21/11:

 

Lesson 8

Criminal Offenses in International Tribunals

Special Importance of the Law of Conspiracy

For Lesson 8 on 9/26/11:

  • Please read handout on international tribunals, and

  • handout on conspiracy law.

Supplemental reading:

  • Conspiracy primer (If you do not already know the elements of conspiracy and what Pinkerton liability is, then skim the highlighted portions of this document.  No reason to read all 50 pages unless you want to.)

 

Lesson 9

Criminal Offenses in a Possible Special National Security Court

For Lesson 9 on 9/28/11, please read:

Resources:

 

IV.  Investigations

Classes 10 & 11

Overview of Intelligence Community

Overview of Federal Law Enforcement Agencies

International Investigations

For Lesson 10 on 10/3/11, please read:

For Lesson 11 on 10/5/11, please read:

  • Handouts provided in class on 10/3.
  • Same protective order assigned for Lesson 10.

Supplemental readings:

Note: We may add an additional class here on national security information (SI and SCI).

 

Classes 12

Tearing Down The Wall

  • In re Sealed Case
  • USA PATRIOT Act provisions on information sharing

For Lesson 12 on 10/10/11 at Noon, please read:

 

Classes 13, 14

Constitutional Framework

U.S. Agents Acting Abroad

For Lesson 13 on 10/12/11, please read:

For Lesson 14 on 10/17/11, please read:

  • Review handout from last class..
  • Kaplan’s Memorandum and Order excluding the testimony of Hussein Abebe in the case against Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani.
  • Please skim the 10/6/10 opinion of Judge Kaplan in Ghailani.  (At 64 pages, it is really too long to assign to be read in depth, but we will discuss it briefly in class.)

Resources:

  • Photo image of white board at the end of Lesson 14.

 

Classes 15,16,17

Electronic Surveillance

For Lesson 15 on 10/19/11, please read:

  • Handout on Title III Surveillance

For Lesson 16 on 10/24/11:

  • Please read sections 1801 through 1812 of FISA, which are pages 1-20 of this handout.

For Lesson 17 on 10/26/2010:

  • Review last assignment, then please read FISA Sections 1861 and 1862 on pages of 38-43.

For Lesson ** on 10/25:

  • Please read FISA sections 1881 through 1885.

 

Lesson 18

Interviews & Interrogation

Use of Grand Jury

Material Witnesses

For Lesson 18 on 10/31, please

 

V.  Jurisdiction

Lesson 18 (cont.)

Substantive Jurisdiction

Physical Jurisdiction

Obtaining the Defendant

Pretrial Detention

 

VI.  Adjudication

Lessons 19, 20

Disclosure & Discovery

Protecting Classified or Confidential Information

For Lesson 19 on 11/2/11, please read:

  • Handout on CIPA and related rules.

Resources:

For Lesson 20 on 11/7/11, please read:

  • Handout on how the MCA, ICC, and Special Court for Sierra Leone handle classified evidence.

Resources:

  • Audio file of Lesson 20 on 11/7/11

Lesson 21

Entrapment

 For Lesson 21 on 11/9/11, please read:

 
Lesson 22

MAKE-UP CLASS ON 11/10/11, 5:30 p.m.: INSCT & SATSA event Better This Life. [Room 275.]

Resources:

Lesson 23 on 11/14/11

Comparison of Juries and Finders of Fact

Please read:

 

Lesson 24 on 11/16/11

Comparison of Rules of Evidence

 Please read:

Supplemental, not assigned:

 

Lesson 25

Sentencing Options

 For class 25 on November 21, please read:

Please review:

Happy Thanksgiving!

 

VII.  Case Studies

Lesson 26

Case Study: United States v. Moussaoui

For Lesson 26 on November 28, 2011, please read the following Moussaoui pleadings:

 
Lesson 27

Case Study: United States v. Ghailani

 Lesson 28

Final thoughts and examination review.

Lesson 28 will be a review for the examination.

Resources:

  • Interview w/ Professor Sulmasey

  • Judge's remarks at Reid sentencing

 

TBD

Examination
 

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