Earlier today, the Federal Government secured another terrorism conviction in federal court. Twenty-three-year old Ehsanul Sadequee, an American citizen, was found guilty of providing material support to terrorism. The government has a startling 91 percent success rate in securing convictions on terrorism charges in civilian courts, according to a recent report by Human Rights First.
According to Reuters, Sadequee frequented extremist Web sites and traveled abroad looking to meet other militants and join a terrorist training camp -- but never succeeded. Sadequee argued that the fact that he hadn't committed any violent acts proved he wasn't serious about becoming a terrorist.
Still, it was enough to secure a conviction on material support charges. Something to think about as Congress refuses to revise the military commissions to prohibit coerced statements: others insist the criminal justice system is incapable of handling terror cases, and the administration considers detaining people based on guesses about crimes they might commit in the future.
-- A. Serwer
