What is Cole and Dempsey's thesis regarding antiterrorism legislation? Discuss the evidence they use to support their thesis

What will be an ideal response?


• David Cole and James Dempsey sent out a warning after the 1996 counterterrorist law took effect in the wake of the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing and reiterated their warning after passage of the 2001 USA Patriot Act.
• Cole & Dempsey feared that law enforcement power is growing too strong in a wave of national hysteria.
• Their thesis is that counterterrorist legislation empowers law enforcement agencies to enforce political law.
• By contrast, terrorists must violate criminal laws to practice terrorism.
• Therefore, Cole and Dempsey argue, it is best to keep the police out of politics and focused on criminal violations.
• If terrorists are prosecuted under criminal law, the Constitution will be preserved.
• Cole and Dempsey point to four cases that illustrate their fears.
• In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the FBI trampled the rights of suspects and citizens through COINTELPRO, its counterintelligence program.
• Second, from 1981 to 1990, the FBI overreacted against U.S. citizens who expressed sympathy for revolutionaries in El Salvador.
• Third, in the 1990s Muslims and Palestinians were targeted by investigations despite there being no reasonable suspicions they were involved in a crime.
• Finally, during the 1990s, political investigations of radical environmentalists and others expanded.

Criminal Justice

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Commonwealth v. Cass held that prenatal injuries resulting in the death of a viable fetus before or after birth is homicide. Roe v. Wade held that a woman has the right to voluntarily consent to an abortion by a licensed physician. How does the Model Penal Code (MPC) avoid a conflict between the law of abortion and the criminal law concerning a fetus?

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Criminal Justice

Those victims and witnesses who are required to appear in court are informed in advance by a ______, which is a written order stating the time and place of appearance.

a. subpoena b. subvacular c. venire d. voir dire

Criminal Justice