Tales of the Preemptively Prosecuted
April 6, 2010 at 10:31 am by Philip LeggiereIt’s become a regular rite of American life. Several times a year (suspiciously often right around a major holiday) the national media will blare headlines of a “successful” FBI sting operation and how it’s disrupted a potentially huge terror plot.
What’s largely been left unexamined once the media cycle ends are the circumstances behind these high-profile “preemptive prosecutions.”
As Project Salam has documented, these include the frequent use of agents provocateurs, paid informants (many of whom are felons who have made plea deals with the FBI), and the offering of money and other assets within impoverished communities.
On March 25, a panel convened at New York University by the National Lawyers Guild (NLG), Middle Eastern Students Association (MELSA), Islamic Law Students Association (ILSA), and Law Students for Human Rights examined the panoply of entrapment tactics used by the FBI in cases including the Fort Dix Five, the Newburg Four, Dr. Rahl Defer, and Yassin Aref.
The panel discussions were taped and broadcast on Law and Disorder Radio.
In a very promising sign that entrapment tactics may receive closer legal scrutiny, yesterday Albany, NY, City Councilor Dominick Calsularo introduced a resolution (which was approved by the Albany City Common Council) requesting that the US Department of Justice implement the recommendation of its own Inspector General “to review ALL of the convictions of Muslims who have been preemptively prosecuted to determine whether these prosecutions met in all ways the high standards of truth, openness, fairness, and justice that are embodied in the Constitution and Bill of Rights.”
As government abuses continue unchecked, it becomes ever clearer that local action like this is necessary to the restoration of the rule of law.
Tags: DOJ, due process, FBI, war on terror
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