National Internal Security/Terrorism Prosecutions for November 2008
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during November 2008 the government reported 16 new national internal security/terrorism prosecutions. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is up from 13 in the previous month. These two months' figures are the lowest recorded in this category since September 2001.
The comparisons of the number of defendants charged with national internal security/terrorism-related offenses are based on case-by-case information obtained by TRAC under the Freedom of Information Act from the Executive Office for United States Attorneys. (See Table 2)
When monthly 2008 prosecutions of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the number of filings was down (-12.6 percent). Prosecutions over the past year are still much lower than they were five years ago. Overall, the data show that prosecutions of this type are down 44.8 percent from levels reported in 2003.
Figure 1: Criminal National Internal Security/Terrorism Prosecutions since January 2001
The decrease from the levels five years ago in national internal security/terrorism prosecutions for these matters is shown more clearly in Figure 1. The vertical bars in Figure 1 represent the number of national internal security/terrorism prosecutions of this type recorded on a month-to-month basis. The superimposed line on the bars plots the six-month moving average so that natural fluctuations are smoothed out.
This decrease in the number of prosecutions does not appear to be accompanied by a reduction in the number of national internal security referrals — instances when the investigative agencies recommended that an individual be prosecuted — disposed of by the Justice Department. As seen in Figure 2, and in contrast to the declining prosecutions, the occasions when the Justice Department has chosen not to to prosecute these cases has remained relatively high and quite steady. The vertical bars in Figure 2 represent the number of national internal security/terrorism declinations. The superimposed line on the bars plots the six-month moving average.
Figure 2: Criminal National Internal Security/Terrorism Declinations since January 2001
Number of Defendants in National Internal Security/Terrorism Cases
Table 2 lists all separate cases with the number of defendants.
Table 2: Number of defendants per case
Case Defendant # 2008 - Tenn, W (Memphis) Case: 1 1 Details 2008 - Tenn, W (Memphis) Case: 1 2 Details 2008 - Cal, E (Sacramento) Case: 2 1 Details 2008 - Cal, N (San Francisco) Case: 3 1 Details 2008 - Cal, N (San Francisco) Case: 4 1 Details 2008 - Conn (New Haven) Case: 5 1 Details 2008 - Ga, N (Atlanta) Case: 6 1 Details 2008 - La, E (New Orleans) Case: 7 1 Details 2008 - Mo, E (St. Louis) Case: 8 1 Details 2008 - Mo, E (St. Louis) Case: 9 1 Details 2008 - N Car, E (Raleigh) Case: 10 1 Details 2008 - N Car, E (Raleigh) Case: 11 1 Details 2008 - N. J. (Newark) Case: 12 1 Details 2008 - Ohio, S (Cincinnati) Case: 13 1 Details 2008 - Oregon (Portland) Case: 14 1 Details 2008 - Virg, E (Alexandria) Case: 15 1 Details
