Maxine Rich is a research assistant in The Washington Institute's Stein Program on Counterterrorism and Intelligence.
Articles & Testimony
Without credible threat assessments, judges and prison wardens are left to rely on their individual perceptions, while worrying what their decisions will mean for public safety.
This October, the first American convicted on Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS)-related charges is set to be released. Shannon Maureen Conley of Colorado was convicted in 2015 for attempting travel to the so-called Islamic State. In court, she claimed to have completely rejected jihad, and her psychiatric evaluation found that she has severe mental health issues, but "she is not a terrorist." The sentencing judge referenced her psychiatric problems and youth as an explanation for her crimes. "She has no history in the criminal justice system," Judge Raymond P. Moore pointed out. "She is very young...Teenagers make dumb decisions a lot." Prosecutors later convinced Moore to hand down a harsher sentence to deter other would-be Islamist extremists...
