Constitutional Law

Human Rights First Report on Terrorism and the Court System

Human Rights First released a new 182-page report today that concludes that “the court system is generally well-equipped to handle most terrorism cases.” (An executive summary is available here; key findings are available here). Human Rights First reviewed over 100 international terrorism cases prosecuted in federal courts over the past fifteen years, and determined that "existing laws provide an effective basis for detaining, monitoring, and prosecuting terrorist suspects."

The report dismissed proposals for new “national security courts” to handle terrorism prosecutions, explaining that:

Creating a brand new court system from scratch would be expensive, uncertain, and almost certainly controversial. Indeed, there is the risk that the very same issues now debated simply would be transferred to a new arena for resolution. In our view, before dramatic changes are imposed—such as the creation of an entirely new court or new detention scheme—it is important to take a step back and evaluate the capability of the existing federal courts and the existing body of federal law to handle criminal cases arising from international terrorism.

Full post as published by ACS Blog on May 28, 2008 (boomark / email).