National Internal Security/Terrorism Prosecutions for December 2023
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during December 2023 the government reported 27 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 28.6 percent over the previous month.
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 1).
When monthly 2023 prosecutions of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the number of filings was up (9.6%). 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 142.4 percent from levels reported in 2018.
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 national internal security/terrorism prosecutions is 111.7 percent instead of 142.4 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 National Internal Security/Terrorism Prosecutions
The increase 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. 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.
Within the broad category of national internal security/terrorism, cases were classified by prosecutors into more specific types.
Case types within national internal security/terrorism are
Matters Relating to National Internal Security
International Terrorism Incidents Which Impact on U.S.
Domestic Terrorism
Terrorism Related Hoaxes
Terrorist Financing
Export Enforcement Terrorism Related
Anti-Terrorism/Environmental
Anti-Terrorism/Identity Theft
Anti-Terrorism/Immigration
Anti-Terrorism/OCDETF Drugs
Anti-Terrorism/Non-OCDETF Drugs
Anti-Terrorism/Violent Crime
Anti-Terrorism/All Others
National Security/Critical Infrastructure Protection
The largest number of prosecutions of these matters in December 2023 was for "Terrorism-Domestic", accounting for 81.5 percent of prosecutions. Prosecutions were also filed for "Internal Security Offenses" (7.4%), "Terrorism-International" (7.4%), "Terrorism-Related Hoaxes" (3.7%). See Figure 2.
The lead investigative agency for national internal security/terrorism prosecutions in December 2023 was FBI accounting for 96 percent of prosecutions referred. Other agencies with substantial numbers of national internal security/terrorism referrals were: Commerce (4% ). See Figure 3.
National Internal Security/Terrorism Prosecutions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In December 2023, 5 defendants in national internal security/terrorism cases for these matters 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 December 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 40 percent of all magistrate filings in December.
National Internal Security/Terrorism Prosecutions in U.S. District Courts
In December 2023, 22 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during December there were an additional 5 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 December.
Top Ranked Lead Charges
Table 2 shows the top lead charges recorded in the prosecutions of national internal security/terrorism matters filed in U.S. District Court during December 2023.
Lead Charge Count Rank 18 USC 1752 - Temporary residence and office of President, etc. 17 1 More 18 USC 111 - Assaulting, resisting, impeding certain officers 2 2 More 18 USC 113 - Assaults within maritime and territorial jurisdictions 1 3 More 18 USC 249 - Hate crime acts 1 3 More 18 USC 844 - Explosives - Importation and storage of explosives 1 3 More 18 USC 951 - Agents of foreign governments 1 3 More 18 USC 2197 - Seamen - misuse of Federal certificate, etc 1 3 More 26 USC 5861 - Tax on Making Firearms - Prohibited acts 1 3 More 40 USC 5104 - Unlawful Activities 1 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.
Ranked 2nd in frequency was the lead charge "Assaulting, resisting, impeding certain officers" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 111.
Ranked 3rd were "Other US Code Section" under Title U.S.C Section, "Assaults within maritime and territorial jurisdictions" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 113, "Hate crime acts" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 249, "Explosives - Importation and storage of explosives" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 844, "Agents of foreign governments" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 951, "Seamen - misuse of Federal certificate, etc" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 2197, "Tax on Making Firearms - Prohibited acts" under Title 26 U.S.C Section.
Top Ranked Judicial Districts
In December 2023 the Justice Department's case-by-case records show that the government brought 9.7 national internal security/terrorism prosecutions for every ten million people in the United States.
Understandably, there is great variation in the per capita number of national internal security/terrorism 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 national internal security/terrorism prosecutions to receive a ranking.
Judicial District Percapita Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago D. C. 3,751 21 1 1 1 More Table 3. Top 10 Districts (per ten million people)
The District of Washington, D.C. (Washington) — with 3751 prosecutions as compared with 9.7 prosecutions per ten million population in the United States — was the most active during December 2023. 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 national internal security/terrorism prosecutions compared to one year ago — 90.6 percent — was Washington, D.C. (Washington). This was the same district that had the largest increase — 1700 percent — when compared with five years ago.
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 national internal security/terrorism crime cases of this type during December 2023 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank Walton, Reggie B. D. C. 4 1 More Boasberg, James Emanuel D. C. 4 1 More Chutkan, Tanya Sue D. C. 3 3 More Lamberth, Royce C. D. C. 2 4 More Contreras, Rudolph D. C. 2 4 More Zipps, Jennifer Guerin Arizona 1 6 More Kollar-Kotelly, Colleen D. C. 1 6 More Mehta, Amit Priyavadan D. C. 1 6 More Nichols, Carl John D. C. 1 6 More Bloom, Beth Francine Fla, S 1 6 More Gillmor, Helen W. Hawaii 1 6 More Flanagan, Louise W. N Car, E 1 6 More Norris, Mark Saalfield, Sr. Tenn, W 1 6 More Table 4. Top Ten Judges
A total of 8 out of the "top ten" judges were in districts which were in the top ten with the largest number of national internal security/terrorism filings per capita, while the remaining 5 judges were from other districts. (Because of ties, there were a total of 13 judges in the "top ten" rankings.)
Judges Reggie B. Walton in the District of Washington, D.C. (Washington) and James Emanuel Boasberg in the District of Washington, D.C. (Washington) ranked 1st with 4 defendants in national internal security/terrorism cases.
Judge Tanya Sue Chutkan in the District of Washington, D.C. (Washington) ranked 3rd with 3 defendants in national internal security/terrorism cases.
Report Generated: February 7, 2024
