Terrorism-Domestic Prosecutions for March 2024
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during March 2024 the government reported 82 new terrorism-domestic prosecutions. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is up 100 percent over the previous month.
The comparisons of the number of defendants charged 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 1).
When monthly 2024 prosecutions of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the number of filings was up (12.9%). Prosecutions over the past year are still much higher than they were five years ago. Overall, the data show that prosecutions of this type are up 474.3 percent from levels reported in 2019.
The substantial growth in these cases is partly related to increases in the matters filed in U.S. Magistrate Courts. If magistrate cases are excluded and only Federal District Court cases are counted, the overall increase in terrorism-domestic prosecutions is 341.9 percent instead of 474.3 percent. The evidence suggests that part of the difference may be the result of improvements in the recording of the magistrate cases by the Justice Department.
Figure 1. Monthly Trends in Terrorism-Domestic Prosecutions
The increase from the levels five years ago in terrorism-domestic prosecutions for these matters is shown more clearly in Figure 1. The vertical bars in Figure 1 represent the number of terrorism-domestic prosecutions of this type recorded on a month-to-month basis. Where a prosecution was initially filed in U.S. Magistrate Court and then transferred to the U.S. District Court, the magistrate filing date was used since this provides an earlier indicator of actual trends. The superimposed line on the bars plots the six-month moving average so that natural fluctuations are smoothed out. The one and five-year rates of change in Table 1 and in the sections that follow are all based upon this six-month moving average. To view trends year-by-year rather than month-by-month, see TRAC's annual report series for a broader picture.
The lead investigative agency for terrorism-domestic prosecutions in March 2024 was FBI accounting for 99 percent of prosecutions referred. Other agencies with substantial numbers of terrorism-domestic referrals were: DHS (1% ). See Figure 3.
Terrorism-Domestic Prosecutions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In March 2024, 48 defendants were filed in U.S. Magistrate Courts. These courts handle less serious misdemeanor cases, including what are called "petty offenses." In addition, complaints are sometimes filed in the magistrate courts before an indictment or information is entered. In these cases, the matter starts in the magistrate courts and later moves to the district court where subsequent proceedings take place.
In the magistrate courts in March the most frequently cited lead charge was Title 18 U.S.C Section 1752 involving "Temporary residence and office of President, etc.". This was the lead charge for 68.8 percent of all magistrate filings in March.
Other frequently prosecuted lead charges include: "40 USC 5104 - Unlawful Activities" (12.5%), "18 USC 111 - Assaulting, resisting, impeding certain officers" (10.4%).
Terrorism-Domestic Prosecutions in U.S. District Courts
In March 2024, 34 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during March there were an additional 8 defendants whose cases moved from the magistrate courts to the U.S. district courts after an indictment or information was filed. The sections which follow cover both sets of cases and therefore cover all matters filed in district court during March.
Top Ranked Lead Charges
Table 2 shows the top lead charges recorded in the prosecutions of terrorism-domestic matters filed in U.S. District Court during March 2024.
Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago 18 USC 1752 - Temporary residence and office of President, etc. 26 1 1 3 More 18 USC 111 - Assaulting, resisting, impeding certain officers 3 2 7 - More 18 USC 231 - Civil Disorders 3 2 2 - More 40 USC 5104 - Unlawful Activities 3 2 15 - More 18 USC 1512 - Tampering with a witness, victim, or an informant 2 5 4 - More 18 USC 641 - Public money, property or records 1 7 - - More 18 USC 875 - Interstate Communications 1 7 3 1 More 18 USC 876 - Mailing threatening communications 1 7 7 3 More Table 2. Top Charges Filed
"Temporary residence and office of President, etc." (Title 18 U.S.C Section 1752) was the most frequent recorded lead charge. "Temporary residence and office of President, etc." (Title 18 U.S.C Section 1752) was ranked 1 a year ago, while it was ranked 3 five years ago.
Ranked 2nd in frequency were the lead charges "Assaulting, resisting, impeding certain officers" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 111, "Civil Disorders" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 231 and "Unlawful Activities" under Title 40 U.S.C Section 5104. "Assaulting, resisting, impeding certain officers" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 111 was ranked 7 a year ago."Civil Disorders" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 231 was ranked 2 a year ago.
Among these top ten lead charges, the one showing the greatest increase in prosecutions — up 600 percent — compared to one year ago was Title 40 U.S.C Section 5104 that involves " Unlawful Activities ". Compared to five years ago, the largest increase — 3500 percent — was registered for prosecutions under " Temporary residence and office of President, etc. " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 1752 ).
Again among the top ten lead charges, the one showing the sharpest decline in prosecutions compared to one year ago — down 50 percent — was " Civil Disorders " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 231 ). Compared to five years ago, the most significant decline in prosecutions — 200 percent — was for filings where the lead charge was " " ( ).
Top Ranked Judicial Districts
In March 2024 the Justice Department's case-by-case records show that the government brought 15.1 terrorism-domestic prosecutions for every ten million people in the United States.
Understandably, there is great variation in the per capita number of terrorism-domestic prosecutions that are filed in each of the nation's ninety-four federal judicial districts.
The districts registering the largest number of prosecutions per capita for these matters last month are shown in Table 3. Districts must have at least 5 terrorism-domestic prosecutions to receive a ranking.
Judicial District Percapita Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago D. C. 6,966 39 1 1 1 More Table 3. Top 10 Districts (per ten million people)
The District of Washington, D.C. (Washington) — with 6966 prosecutions as compared with 15.1 prosecutions per ten million population in the United States — was the most active during March 2024. The District of Washington, D.C. (Washington) was ranked 1 a year ago, while it was ranked 1 for most frequent use five years ago.
The federal judicial district which showed the greatest growth in the rate of terrorism-domestic prosecutions compared to one year ago — 46.1 percent — was Washington, D.C. (Washington). This was the same district that had the largest increase — 3625 percent — when compared with five years ago.
In the last year, the judicial District Court recording the largest drop in the rate of terrorism-domestic prosecutions — 4.8 percent — was Washington, D.C. (Washington). But over the past five years, showed the largest drop — percent.
Top Ranked District Judges
At any one time, there are about 680 federal District Court judges working in the United States. The judges recorded with the largest number of new terrorism-domestic crime cases of this type during March 2024 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank Nichols, Carl John D. C. 5 1 More Boasberg, James Emanuel D. C. 4 2 More Howell, Beryl Alaine D. C. 4 2 More Kelly, Timothy James D. C. 4 2 More Kollar-Kotelly, Colleen D. C. 3 5 More Moss, Randolph Daniel D. C. 3 5 More Friedrich, Dabney Langhorne D. C. 3 5 More Bates, John D. D. C. 2 8 More Cooper, Christopher Reid D. C. 2 8 More Contreras, Rudolph D. C. 1 10 More Chutkan, Tanya Sue D. C. 1 10 More McFadden, Trevor Neil D. C. 1 10 More Howard, Marcia Morales Fla, M 1 10 More Dick, Shelly Deckert La, M 1 10 More Table 4. Top Ten Judges
A total of 12 out of the "top ten" judges were in districts which were in the top ten with the largest number of terrorism-domestic filings per capita, while the remaining 2 judges were from other districts. (Because of ties, there were a total of 14 judges in the "top ten" rankings.)
Judge Carl John Nichols in the District of Washington, D.C. (Washington) ranked 1st with 5 defendants in terrorism-domestic cases.
Judges James Emanuel Boasberg in the District of Washington, D.C. (Washington), Beryl Alaine Howell in the District of Washington, D.C. (Washington) and Timothy James Kelly in the District of Washington, D.C. (Washington) ranked 2nd with 4 defendants in terrorism-domestic cases.
Report Generated: May 10, 2024
