(TRAC) Report questions few prosecutions, convictions of terror suspects

[Wonk]

(snip)

"Are the right people being targeted, and are more effective strategies possible?" asked the report, noting that the current approach of prosecuting a large number of individuals for crimes resulting in little or no imprisonment raised the question of whether this reduced the threat of terrorism.

(snip)

David Burnham, a director of TRAC, a nonprofit research and data-gathering group, emphasized that the report was intended to provide information to the press, congressional committees and government agencies, and not a recommendation of action that should be taken.

Explaining that data was drawn from the offices of U.S. attorneys, Burnham said, "It is an approximation of what they are doing without stating why they are doing it. We try to write in a neutral tone, and the furthest we went was to suggest they might be targeting some of the wrong people."

An aide at the Senate Finance Committee said Sens. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, and Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., had written letters to Attorney General John Ashcroft and FBI Director John Mueller a year ago questioning the number of cases referred for prosecution that were later either dismissed or resulted in minimal penalties.

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