Counter Terrorism Issues Case Studies in the Courtroom

The American legal profession and judicial system bear a unique responsibility to set and maintain the balance between defending homeland security and protecting the civil liberties outlined in the Bill of Rights. These competing interests will continue to collide as the threats to our safety grow. Exploring the most significant terrorist cases of the past two decades, Counter Terrorism Issues: Case Studies in the Courtroom presents a panoramic view of the American judiciary’s handling of domestic terrorism in the last 20 years. Drawing extensively upon trial transcripts, witness statements, and judicial opinions, the book brings the underlying events back to life and demonstrates how the criminal justice system has sought to grapple with conflicting facts and countervailing legal rights and responsibilities. The book examines some of the most notorious recent cases—the two attacks on the World Trade Center, the Oklahoma City bombing, and the Fort Hood massacre. It also looks at lesser-known but equally important incidents, including those involving animal-rights radicals who harass university researchers and corporate executives, as well as the actions of terrorist "wannabes" who threaten our security. Also discussed are attempts by victims of terrorist attacks to sue state sponsors of terrorism. Through the words of witnesses, judges, and the attorneys who tried these cases in America’s courtrooms, the book provides important commentary on the related back-stories and historical/political contexts of these events, enabling readers to understand the significance of these often-infamous attacks on U.S. soil.

The Fire Bell in the Night: The 1993 World Trade Center Bombing The 1993 World Trade Center Bombing Background Pretrial Proceedings Mohammad Salameh’s Bail Application Motions to Suppress Evidence The First Criminal TrialThe Subsequent Criminal Trials The Civil Trial Conspiracy Theories The Last Word Homegrown Terrorists: Tim McVeigh and Terry Nichols (1995) Background Pretrial Proceedings McVeigh’s Trial Appeals and Execution Should Zacarias Moussaoui Die for Usama Bin Laden’s Sins? (2006) Background Early al Qaeda Attacks Planning and Execution Pretrial Legal Maneuvers The Trial: Phase 1 The Trial: Phase 2 Aftermath Conspiracy TheoriesIt Shouldn’t Happen to a Dog? The Trial of the SHAC 7 (2006) The Roots of the Animal Rights Movement Animal Activist Philosophy and Tactics Federal Legislation to Protect Scientists Using Animals Stop Huntington Animal Cruelty (SHAC)SHAC’s Website Indictments and Trial Andrew Baker Sally Dillenback Marion Harlos Robert Harper Conviction and AppealAftermath All My Trials Soon Be Over? Sami Al-Arian (2005–2010)Al-Arian’s Terrorism Trial Al-Arian’s Civil Contempt Case Al-Arian’s Criminal Contempt Case The Final Chapter? Victims Fight Back: The Persian Antiquities Cases (2001–2012) The Museum of Fine Arts The Arthur M. Sackler Museum of Harvard University The Field Museum The Oriental Institute 2010 Developments Who Does Own Antiquity? Two Postscripts The Supreme Court Declines to Intervene At the Tipping Point on the Scales of Justice: National Security vs. Civil Liberties (When a U.S. Citizen Is Declared an Unlawful Enemy Combatant) Introduction: The Laws of War, War Crime Trials, and Combatants’ Rights Children of a Lesser God? Second-Class Citizens and Unlawful Enemy Combatants Enter Jose Padilla The Litigation Carnival Moves South Padilla’s Pretrial Perambulations Padilla’s Trial and Post-Trial Proceedings Conspiracy Theories Of Wannabes and Bumblers: The Fort Dix Conspirators and the Underwear Bomber The Fort Dix Wannabes The Target The Plotters The Underwear BomberLone Madman or Freelance Jihadist? Nidal Malik Hasan and the Fort Hood Shootings (2009) Background The Shootings and the Legal Proceedings to Date Anwar al-Awlaki and the Yemeni Connection Postscript The Yemeni Connection (Redux): What the Times Square Bomber Case Portends Background Legal Proceedings and TrialAccomplices and Co-Conspirators? Conclusion New Challenges Loom Index

James Ottavio Castagnera, J.D., Ph.D., has 30 years of broad and varied experience in law, labor relations, and risk management. He has been the director of university communication at Case Western Reserve University and a law professor at the University of Texas at Austin, the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, and the Widener University School of Law. For the past 17 years, he has served as the associate provost and associate counsel for academic affairs at Rider University, where he is an associate professor of legal studies in the College of Business Administration. He has published 18 previous books, as well as numerous journal, magazine and newspaper articles, primarily on higher education and human resources law, as well as on aspects of risk management.