About the course
LAW 790 -- 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. Topics will include legal definitions of terrorism, investigation and intelligence collection in the U.S. and abroad, apprehension of terrorists across borders, immigration and border controls, prosecution of terrorists, sanctions against terrorism and its supporters (including reprisal, assassination, asset freeze and forfeiture), crisis and consequence management in the event of terrorist attacks (including martial law and detention, domestic use of the military, catastrophic emergency measures, hostage and rescue operations), and law reform issues. 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.
Required Reading:
The primary text is Dycus, Banks & Raven-Hansen, Counterterrorism Law 2d. (Aspen 2012; ISBN 978-0-7355-9863-8). It is so new that it will not be available by the time the course starts. Thus, I will email to each registered student an Adobe Acrobat (PDF) file of the reading assignments for use until the textbook arrives. The first of the emails with attached assignments will be sent on Tuesday, January 10, 2012. More materials will be provided in class. Most materials other than the primary text will be available on this website. All required readings are essential. Many supplemental materials will be available for anyone who wants to delve into a subject more deeply. Most things projected during class likely will be available on the course website. Recommended supplemental books are Bruce Hoffman's Inside Terrorism (ISBN 978-0-231-12699-1), William Banks, et al., Combating Terrorism, Strategies and Approaches (2007, ISBN: 978-0872892996), and William Banks(editor), New Battlefields/Old Laws: Critical Debates on Asymmetric Warfare (2011, ISBN 978-0231152358).
Audio Recording:
All lectures will be digitally recorded. Audio files of at least the key lectures will be posted on the course web site. In the past, I have provided CD’s of the lectures to students upon request, and I expect to continue that practice. Typically, I use MP3 format, but I can convert to M4U or several others. You are welcome to make your own recordings of class, if you prefer.
Note on Passwords:
The 2011 username and password to access protected portions of this site will be announced in class. The password for the anonymous Google email account also has changed. The new password will be announced in class.
About the professor:
William C. Snyder, Esq., is an
Assistant Professor of Law for the 2011-2012 school year at the Syracuse
University College of Law. He is teaching Federal Criminal Law,
Terrorism and the Law [Counterterrorism Law], Prosecuting
Terrorists, and Cyber Security Law & Policy. In
addition, he assists at the Institute
for National Security and Counterterrorism. At Syracuse he
also has taught Computer Crimes, Federal Courts,
Evidence, and Prosecuting Terrorists in Article III Courts.
Mr. Snyder was the 2004-2005 Fellow in Government Law and Policy at the Albany Law School’s Government Law Center. A career federal prosecutor prior to joining the Government Law Center, Mr. Snyder served over 13 years as an Assistant United States Attorney (AUSA) in the Western District of Pennsylvania and the District of Columbia. Prior to receiving his law degree, Mr. Snyder served as an Assistant to the Attorney General of the United States and was Deputy Administrative Assistant to Pennsylvania Governor Dick Thornburgh.
As an AUSA, Mr. Snyder initiated prosecution of the largest felony case in the history of the Western District of Pennsylvania while assigned as legal counsel to the Greater Pittsburgh Violent Crimes/ Gang Task Force. In addition, he participated in intelligence investigations and drafted emergency plans while assigned to that district's Joint Terrorism Task Force and its Anti-Terrorism Advisory Council. He served as the district's Crisis Response Manager.
Mr. Snyder received his Bachelor of Arts degree cum laude in political science with a concentration in international relations from Yale College of Yale University. He received his Juris Doctor degree magna cum laude from Cornell Law School where he served on the Cornell Law Review and was elected to the Order of the Coif.
Since 2005, Mr. Snyder taught National Security Law, Current Legal Issues in Government and Fact Investigation as an Adjunct Professor at Albany Law School. In 2006 and 2007 he taught Prosecuting Terrorists in Article III Courts at the Institute for National Security and Counterterrorism, a joint venture of Syracuse University's College of Law and its Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs.
Mr. Snyder is a member of the Bar of the United States Supreme Court, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, and the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania.