A new report from Syracuse University’s Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse says that in the first nine months of 2006, federal prosecutors have rejected about 87 percent of the international terrorism cases brought by the FBI. The feds, surprise surprise, dispute those damning numbers. USA Today notes that Justice Department spokesman Brian Roehrkasse said:
…the department’s rejection rate stands at 67%, not 87%. He added the department has prosecuted 36 international terrorism defendants, nearly double the number reported in the analysis.
Regardless, what’s interesting here is what seems like an enormous disconnect: the government has been relentless in attempts to round up and prosecute environmentalists and animal rights activists as “terrorists,” but turns down 87 percent (or 67 percent) of international terrorism cases brought by the FBI.