Al-Marri Amicus Cites HRF Report and Recognizes Usefulness of Federal Courts in Trying Terrorism Cases

On October 23, a group of former federal judges and former senior Justice Department officials submitted an amicus brief in the case of Al-Marri v. Pucciarelli. The brief asks the Supreme Court to reconsider a ruling by the Fourth Circuit holding that the government has the power to arrest and imprison suspected terrorists inside the United States – U.S. citizens included – and hold them indefinitely without criminal charge.

The amicus calls the President’s actions an “unprecedented expansion of Executive authority” that is “wholly unnecessary” since past cases prove that federal courts are well-equipped to handle terrorism cases. In particular, the brief touts the success of the Classified Information Procedures Act (CIPA) in protecting classified information in federal prosecutions and supports its argument by citing a recent HRF report entitled In Pursuit of Justice: Prosecuting Terrorism Cases in Federal Courts: “Indeed, a recent study concludes that ‘CIPA has provided a flexible, practical mechanism for problems posed by classified evidence,’ citing at least eighteen terrorism cases where CIPA has been employed successfully.”

Read the entire amicus brief here.

HRF Responds to Former Federal Prosecutor’s Question about Proper Arena for Terrorism Trials

The New York Times printed Senior Associate Deborah Colson’s letter to the editor online today, answering a question posed to the presidential candidates before the last debate by former U.S. Attorney, Mary Jo White:

Question: When dealing with people accused of being involved in international terrorism against the United States, what is the proper balance between the use of military proceedings and criminal trials in our courts?

HRF’s Response: Mary Jo White, former United States attorney in Manhattan, asks about the proper balance between military proceedings and criminal trials “when dealing with people accused of being involved in international terrorism against the United States.”

The answer is, our federal courts can handle complex terrorism cases.

“In Pursuit of Justice,” a recent Human Rights First report, examined 123 international terrorism cases prosecuted in the federal courts and found that the federal system successfully balances the need to protect classified information with defendants’ fair trial rights.

In fact, the United States attorney’s office in Manhattan successfully prosecuted dozens of terrorism suspects in the 1990s while Ms. White was at the helm.

Neither candidate addressed the issue in last week’s debate, but terrorism prosecutions undoubtedly will be a top national-security priority for the next presidential administration.