The Daily OrangeSU database tracks terrorism trends
By Stephen Clark
Posted: 4/1/04, 2:27 AM EST Section: News
As the Bush administration answers questions from the 9/11 Commission about how they handled the terrorist attacks, Attorney General John Ashcroft and the Justice Department may soon have to answer questions about their post Sept. 11 attacks on terrorism.
The Justice Department has convicted 184 individuals in international terrorism cases within the two years following Sept. 11. But the average sentence in those convictions has been 14 days in prison with only three people sentenced to five years or more, according to a December study by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse - a research institute associated with Syracuse University that collects data of government law enforcement.
"Most of those arrested cop a plea," said William Banks, a professor of law at SU who teaches courses on domestic and international terrorism. "It's no different from those who get speeding tickets."
But unlike those stopped for speeding tickets, terrorism suspects face the prospect of expensive legal fees, long prison terms and a media frenzy surrounding a trial. The study also showed an increase of convictions in major terrorism cases, including domestic and financial, from 96 convictions in the two years prior to Sept. 11 to 341 in the two following it.
"The data indicates the government is casting a wider net than it has in the past," said David Burnham, co-director of TRAC and a former investigative reporter for The New York Times. "The question is, are they getting more sharks?"
While the government may be convicting more individuals, it conducted only two trials on international terrorism in the 30 months since Sept. 11. Three Middle Eastern men were convicted last June in Detroit on a number of terrorism and fraud charges after the FBI's investigation into Sept. 11.
"The Department of Justice will work diligently to detect, disrupt and dismantle the activities of terrorist cells in the United States and abroad," Ashcroft said in a statement released following the first and only U.S. jury conviction from the Sept. 11 investigation.
The Justice Department has convicted 184 individuals in international terrorism cases within the two years following Sept. 11. But the average sentence in those convictions has been 14 days in prison with only three people sentenced to five years or more, according to a December study by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse - a research institute associated with Syracuse University that collects data of government law enforcement.
"Most of those arrested cop a plea," said William Banks, a professor of law at SU who teaches courses on domestic and international terrorism. "It's no different from those who get speeding tickets."
But unlike those stopped for speeding tickets, terrorism suspects face the prospect of expensive legal fees, long prison terms and a media frenzy surrounding a trial. The study also showed an increase of convictions in major terrorism cases, including domestic and financial, from 96 convictions in the two years prior to Sept. 11 to 341 in the two following it.
"The data indicates the government is casting a wider net than it has in the past," said David Burnham, co-director of TRAC and a former investigative reporter for The New York Times. "The question is, are they getting more sharks?"
While the government may be convicting more individuals, it conducted only two trials on international terrorism in the 30 months since Sept. 11. Three Middle Eastern men were convicted last June in Detroit on a number of terrorism and fraud charges after the FBI's investigation into Sept. 11.
"The Department of Justice will work diligently to detect, disrupt and dismantle the activities of terrorist cells in the United States and abroad," Ashcroft said in a statement released following the first and only U.S. jury conviction from the Sept. 11 investigation.
