Prosecution in United States

Prosecution Definition

The conducting or carrying forward of a judicial proceeding. The means adopted to bring a supposed offender against the criminal law to punishment by due course of law. (1)

Prosecution in International Law and the Laws of War

The President (Obam) made clear in his May 2009 National Archives speech that the United States has a national security interest in trying terrorists, either before Article III courts or military commissions, and in keeping the number of individuals detained under the laws of war low.

Obviously, the choice between Article III courts and military commissions must be made on a case-by-case basis, depending on the facts of each particular case. Many acts of terrorism committed in the context of an armed conflict can constitute both war crimes and violations of our Federal criminal law, and they can be prosecuted in either federal courts or military commissions. As the Bush Administration found, those who have violated American criminal laws can be successfully tried in federal courts, for example, Richard Reid, Zacarias Moussaoui, and a number of others.

With respect to the criminal justice system, Attorney General Holder, in early 2010, explained that Article III prosecutions have proven to be remarkably effective in incapacitating terrorists. In 2009, there were more defendants charged with terrorism violations in federal court than in any year since 9/11. In February 2010, for example, Najibullah Zazi pleaded guilty in the Eastern District of New York to a three-count information charging him with conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction, specifically explosives, against persons or property in the United States, conspiracy to commit murder in a foreign country, and provision of material support to al-Qaeda.

The U.S. government has also effectively used the criminal justice system to pursue those who have sought to commit terrorist acts overseas. On March 18, 2010, for example, David Headley pleaded guilty to a dozen terrorism charges in U.S. federal court in Chicago, admitting that he participated in planning the November 2008 terrorist attacks in Mumbai, India, as well as later planning to attack a Danish newspaper.

President Obama noted in his National Archives speech that lawfully constituted military commissions are also appropriate venues for trying persons for violations of the laws of war. In 2009, with significant input from his Administration, the Military Commissions Act was amended, with important changes to address the defects in the previous Military Commissions Act of 2006, including the addition of a provision that renders inadmissible any statements taken as a result of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. The 2009 legislative reforms also require the government to disclose more potentially exculpatory information, restrict hearsay evidence, and generally require that statements of the accused be admitted only if they were provided voluntarily (with a carefully defined exception for battlefield statements).

prosecution in relation to Invention and Patent Law

The process in which an inventor or his lawyer engage with the patent office to obtain a patent and determine the scope of its claims.

Prosecution in the Criminal Justice System

Prosecution and Trial: Main Elements

The coverage of Prosecution and Trial includes the following element(s):

The Right against Self-Incrimination

Find out an overview of this topic, in relation to Prosecution and Trial, in the legal Ecyclopedia.

References

Resources

Notes

1. This definition of Prosecution is based on the The Cyclopedic Law Dictionary

Prosecution