Terrorism defendants ordered by judge to face evaluation for deradicalization program
Four men who pleaded guilty in a conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists will be evaluated for a deradicalization program as a result of a federal judge’s order.
U.S. District Judge Michael Davis ordered the evaluation to determine the potential for rehabilitation, which will influence his sentencing decision, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports. The assessment will also be used to design a program intended to influence the defendants to give up radical ideology.
Davis briefed reporters about his order on Wednesday, according to the article. “It does not make sense why someone who’s never been involved in any type of criminal activity, was not seriously religious, [would] in a very short period of time want to go over and be involved in jihad,” he said.
A German specialist in Islamic fundamentalism, Daniel Koehler, will conduct the evaluation. Davis said the defendants can decide to oppose his order.
Last year, Davis allowed one of the defendants, Abdullahi Mohamud Yusuf, to be released and connected with religious scholars and other mentors. Yusuf was sent back to jail last summer after halfway house staffers found a box cutter taped under his bed.
Faiza Patel, a counterterrorism researcher at the Brennan Center for Justice, told the Minneapolis Star Tribune she doubts whether evaluations can determine an individual’s likelihood of committing future violent acts. She also said deradicalization programs can stigmatize Muslims.
But, she added, “I have a lot less problems with trying out approaches that are … untested when you are working with individuals that have already pleaded guilty to a crime.”
Hat tip to the Wall Street Journal Law Blog.
