Re Domestic Terrorism: There Ought to Be a Law
Domestic terrorism is a national problem. It should also be a federal crime.
TheWashington Post
Feb. 2, 2021 at 9:16 a.m. EST
Richard B. Zabel oversaw terrorism prosecutions as deputy U.S. attorney in the Southern District of New York from 2011 to 2015 and teaches national security law at Columbia Law School.
The United States faces a rising threat of violent extremism yet has no law targeting the problem. The Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol and the Department of Homeland Security’s first-ever national domestic terrorism bulletin on Jan. 27 have sounded the alarm that it is time for Congress to fix this gap: We need anti-terrorism laws aimed at domestic terrorism.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/02/02/domestic-terrorism-federal-crime/
02/15/2021 @ 5:57 pm
and maybe another prohibiting the President from being a Domestic Terrorist, and stating that the appropriate trial is Impeachment, in or out of office.
02/16/2021 @ 8:28 pm
Twenty odd years ago, my nephew found out at the last minute, at graduation, that he wasn’t getting a diploma, there was one class he hadn’t finished adequately. This was after he had worked hard to overcome some problems and do some catching up. He was thinking he had done well and made up for years of difficulty and suddenly the news that he hadn’t done quite well enough. He said to a teacher, “Kindda makes you understand those guys at Columbine.”
The teacher thought she had to report the comment to the principal. The principal had Joe arrested on the spot. He was charged with “making terroristic threats” and taken to jail.
In court, the judge thought the whole case was ridiculous, the prosecutor wanted the case thrown out, the teacher was mortified, the principal regretted his decision to report Joe but the school superintendent insisted that the book be thrown at the kid and so he went to jail for a week or so. Or more, not sure I remember the length of time. But he went to jail.
So my question is, isn’t this an anti-domestic terrorism law? Is it that it’s a state or local law and doesn’t cover federal crimes? Does it have to distinguish domestic vs foreign? If so, why? Why don’t ordinary terrorism laws cover domestic terrorism? Am I just being dense?
I haven’t read a whole lot about this but in what I have read, including the article linked here I don’t see the distinction clarified.
What am I missing?
02/16/2021 @ 9:00 pm
“Is it that it’s a state or local law and doesn’t cover federal crimes?”
There is no Federal law against domestic terrorism.
The 911 style commission that Pelosi has proposed should result in legislative recommendations to Congress to remedy this gap in the Homeland Security blanket…
“He was charged with “making terroristic threats” and taken to jail.”
The term “terroristic threats” as may be used in state statutes, is legislative language aimed at preventing bullying and intimidation of individuals or specific groups, not ‘terrorism’ as we understand it to be…
Frightening people by making “terroristic threats” under state law does not rise to the level of ‘terrorism’ which is criminal activity aimed at a national government or general population.
It looks to me like your nephew did not have adequate representation and it also appears that that superintendent did not self identify as an educator…
I would have sided with the judge, prosecutor, and principal…
The superintendent was determined to terrorize a youngster for thinking out loud and being openly critical of a policy that might well have been remedied by the superintendent who most likely made the final decision to withhold the young man’s diploma.
A real educator would have found a way to allow the young man to participate in the commencement ceremony and ‘graduate’ contingent upon satisfying the requirement to complete and pass the course in question during summer school, or through an adult ed class or GED class…or a tutorial of some kind…
As an educator, I would have found a way….
Seems to me the kid deserved graduation not incarceration…
As an attorney, I would have found a way to provide a competent defense and achieve that end…
02/17/2021 @ 10:51 am
Joe did graduate, he just didn’t walk with his class (because jail.) He took a summer school class to make up the missing credits. It’s that he had worked so hard and done well only to be tripped up by some bureaucratic snafu. He expressed his disappointment clumsily. I think as much as anything the story demonstrates the power the superintendent had in that small town. It could just be that the superintendent was a self important asshole more than an educator.
02/18/2021 @ 6:56 pm
“Joe did graduate, he just didn’t walk with his class (because jail.)”
As I said, as an attorney and an educator, I would have found a way to make that happen….