Terrorism Should Not Be a Crime: How Political Labels Are Dangerous to American Democracy

This Note calls for a dismantling of the United States’ current method of prosecuting terrorism, rejecting the “terrorism” label as a mechanism for charging crimes. Prosecutors should instead charge individuals in terrorism cases for their underlying criminal actions rather than rely on material support statutes and political innuendos to secure a conviction. By examining the implications of the terrorism label in post-9/11 America, this Note addresses how a moral panic enabled the executive branch to overstep its constitutional restraints and threatened the delicate balance of powers central to American democracy. Next, it proposes, as many have before, that Article III courts are the most adept forum to prosecute crimes relating to terrorism. However, the way they do so should be depoliticized and focus on substantive crimes, rather than offenses political in nature. Lastly, it addresses how nationwide hysteria surrounding “terrorism” gives rise to increased Islamophobia and intolerance, thus becoming a de facto campaign against Muslim Americans.