How Entrapment Still Matters: Partial Successes of Entrapment Claims in Terrorism Prosecutions

Abstract

It is commonly claimed that the entrapment defense has never succeeded in a terrorism case. Yet that is not precisely true. In several post-9/11 cases, entrapment claims have contributed to full or partial acquittals, hung juries, and unexpectedly lenient sentences. Prosecutors have also dropped charges, setting convicted defendants free, to prevent successful entrapment defenses upon retrial. This chapter concludes that, despite the fragility and ambiguity of the right not to be entrapped, entrapment claims can achieve partial victories even in terrorism cases, due to the multiple discretion points at which entrapment can inform strategic or normative judgments.

Citation

Norris, J.J. (2020), "How Entrapment Still Matters: Partial Successes of Entrapment Claims in Terrorism Prosecutions", Sarat, A. (Ed.) Studies in Law, Politics, and Society (Studies in Law, Politics, and Society, Vol. 82), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 141-166. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1059-433720200000082007