After the attacks of September 11, 2001, the Department of Justice published several reports claiming success in prosecuting terrorists (e.g., DOJ, 2006). Some academics, politicians, and government officials challenged those claims. During this time, there was a dramatic increase in public interest in the outcome of federal terrorism cases, and an increase in the level of attention paid to how the government handles cases. Determining whether government has been successful in the war on terrorism is difficult because defendants accused of “terrorism-related” offenses are tried in numerous federal district courts and state courts each year. Few prosecutors have ever faced a politically motivated offender at trial. Those who have, found themselves responding to persons and issues that were very different from those faced in traditional trials. Other than findings from the American Terrorism Study (Smith and Damphousse 1996; 1998; 2003; Smith et al., 2002), little empirical information has been available to provide guidance relative to the prosecution of these offenders.

This research project involved an examination of federal criminal court cases (1980 - 2004) that were filed after defendants were referred to U.S. Attorneys by the Federal Bureau of Investigation following an official terrorism investigation. The study focused on the court room processes and legal strategies that were used by federal prosecutors and criminal defense attorneys from the moment of indictment until the case reached final disposition. Analyses of these events provide state and federal prosecutors with information to assist them in the efficient prosecution of terrorism cases. This research included an examination of the relationships between prosecutorial and defense strategies for the purpose of determining their relationship to case outcomes in terrorism trials. This study also included an analysis of pre- and post-9/11 federal terrorism cases to determine whether terrorism prosecutions have been more or less successful in the post-9/11 era.