Counterterrorism Law

Law 790 (41309)

Counterterrorism and the Law
Syracuse University College of Law
Visiting Assistant Professor William C. Snyder
Spring 2012

Next: For Wednesday, 4/25/12, Lesson 26.

Course Description:

This three-credit course is about the law and legal policy used to counter terrorism, not about its history, ideology, or grand strategies.  As the authors of our textbook (including our own Professor William Banks) explain, the course is designed to help you “reflect intensively on how to protect national security under the rule of law; whether civil rights and civil liberties must be traded for security, and, if so, how much; and what roles each of the three branches of government should play in making these decisions and trade-offs.”  Special attention will be paid to the dynamic quality of counterterrorism law – that is, most classes will begin with a review of developments since last we met.  Included specific topics can be found in the Assignments section, below.  There are no prerequisites for enrollment.

I am willing to adjust the syllabus to address the needs and interests of students in the course.

Required Reading:

Please see "About" page.

Assignments:

The reading assignments are not long.  Yet, the material is fairly challenging, and we may not be able to keep the pace outlined here.  Thus, these assignments are subject to change.  If the class as a group is not comfortable with its understanding of a section, we will spend extra time upon it.  We also make a point of following current developments, which are tracked on our course blog at www.nationalsecuritylaw.info.

Unless otherwise indicated, assigned pages are from Dycus, Banks & Raven-Hansen, Counterterrorism Law 2d. (Aspen 2012).

Lesson

Topic

Assignment

 

Part I. Introduction

1
1/18/12

Defining Terrorism and Counterterrorism
Supplemental readings:

Ch. 1.

 

Part II. Authorities and Limits in the War on Terrorists

2
1/19/12

Terrorism and International Humanitarian Law

Supplemental:

  • McNeal, Gregory S., The U.S. Practice of Collateral Damage Estimation and Mitigation (November 9, 2011). Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1819583 or doi:10.2139/ssrn.1819583 or here.
  • Audio file of Lesson #2.

Ch. 2.

3
1/25/12

Waging War on Terrorists

Supplemental reading:

  • Audio file of Lesson 3 on 1/25/12.
  • Declarations of War and Authorizations for the Use of Military Force: Historical Background and Legal Implications, Congressional Research ServiceReport RL31133 (March 17, 2011 version, March 8, 2007 version).

Ch. 3.
(PDF)

4
1/30/12

5
2/6/12

Targeting Terrorists

Supplemental material:

  • Fact sheet on Predator.
  • Testimony of William C. Banks before the Subcommittee on National Security and Foreign Affairs, Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, United States House of Representatives, on "Rise of the Drones," 4/28/10.
  • Page of this site on targeted killing.
  • Audio file of Lesson 4 on 1/30/12.
  • Audio file of Lesson 5 on 2/6/12.

4

(PDF)

 

Part III. Detecting and Preventing Terrorism

Lesson
6

Organizing for Intelligence Collection

  • PowerPoint slides used in class on 2/8/12.
  • Audio file.

Chapter
5

7
2/13

The Fourth Amendment and Counterterrorism

6

8

2/15

Congressional Authority for Foreign Intelligence Surveillance

Supplemental Material:

7

9
2/22

Programmatic Electronic Surveillance for Foreign Intelligence  

8

10

2/27/12

Third-Party Records and Data Mining

Supplemental Material:

9
11
3/5/12

Screening for Security

  • Audio file of Lesson 11.

10
12
3/7

Surveilance Abroad

11
 

Part IV. Detaining Terrorist Suspects

13
3/19

Preventive Detention by Civil Authorities 

  • audio file of Lesson 13.

12
14
3/21

The Great Writ: Habeas Corpus Before 9/11

13
15
3/26

The Great Writ: Habeas Corpus After 9/11

  • Audio file of Lesson 15.

14
16
3/26

Military Detention Before 9/11

  • Audio file of Lesson 16.

15
17
3/28

Military Detention After 9/11

16

Part V. Interrogating Terrorist Suspects

18
4/2

Interrogating Terrorist Suspects

Supplemental materials:

  • Dedicated page of this website.
  • Skeletal outline for class.
  • Audio file of Lesson 18.

17
19
4/9

Case Study: Coercive Interrogation by U.S. Forces After 9/11

Supplemental materials:

18
20
4/9

Extraordinary Rendition  

  • audio file of Lesson 20.

19
 

Part VI. Prosecuting Threats to National Security

21
4/11

Criminalizing Terrorism and Material Support

Supplemental materials:

  • summary of extraterritorial jurisdiction.
  • audio file of Lesson 21.

20

22
4/16

Prosecuting Accused Terrorists and Their Supporters in Criminal Courts

  • audio file of Lesson 22.
  • handout on Sections 2339A & 2339B.
      

21

23
4/18
&
24
4/23

Trial by Military Commission

Supplemental materials:

Supplemental event, Saturday, 4/21/12, in Grant Auditorium in the College of Law:

  • Trial Rights of Military Detainees panel discussion at 9:00 a.m. with:
    • Captain Glenn Sulmasy of the Coast Guard Academy
    • Professor Mark Denbeaux of Seton Hall
    • Professor William Snyder of Syracuse University College of Law
  • Secret Prisons of the US presentation at 10:00 a.m. by Amna Akbar of CUNY
  • Keynote Address at 2:30 p.m. by Col. Morris Davis, former chief prosecutor for the military commissions at GITMO, on his experience regarding creative justice initiatives in the United States
  • Sponsored by the Syracuse University Law Review.

22
4/23

Optional Event:

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton will visit the Syracuse University campus to meet with students and then engage in a policy conversation entitled "America and the World" with Maxwell School Dean James Steinberg. The event is scheduled for noon at Hendricks Chapel and is free and open to the public. Seating is first come, first served. The doors will open at 9:45 a.m., and guests must be seated by 11:15. All guests are subject to security screening.

We will watch in our classroom a live webcast of the event. This will immediately follow Lesson 24, above.

Part VII. Homeland Security
25
online

Homeland Security

23
26
4/25

The Military’s Domestic Role
  

24
 

Part VIII. Noncriminal Sanctions Against Terrorists and Their Sponsors

26
online

Public Sanctions Against Terrorists and Their Sponsors

25
27
4/25

Suing Terrorists and Their Sponsors
Supplemental reading:

  • CRS report "Suits Against Terrorist States by Victims of Terrorism, Updated May 1, 2008.

26
27
online

Does Cyberspace Change Counterterrorism Law and Policy?

Handout

4/30/12

Morning EXAMINATION – in class, closed book with statutory supplement.

For review:

 

 

 

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