Is History Repeating Itself? Sentencing Young American Muslims in the War on Terror

The United States' aggressive War on Terror policies since 9/11 have led to significant prison sentences for many young American Muslims, even when their charged criminal conduct cannot be tied to any act of violence in the United States or abroad. A primary reason provided for their severe punishment is that these individuals are uniquely dangerous, cannot be deterred or rehabilitated, and must be incapacitated to protect society from their ideologically violent goals. In the 1980s and 1990s, similar accusations were raised in the War on Drugs against young African-Americans, who were described as remorseless "super-predators" and received lengthy sentences in an effort to reduce drug and gang violence across the United States. Through a comparative analysis between federal sentencing policies in the Wars on Terror and Drugs, this Feature explains how these policies have disproportionately targeted particular minority communities and have led to sentences for young nonviolent offenders that undermine effective strategies to combat violence in the United States. In response to harms created by the War on Drugs, policymakers have instituted numerous. reforms to reduce the length of drug related sentences and focus on alternative means of addressing drug crimes and rehabilitating offenders. However, as this Feature explains, the lessons learned from counterproductive War on Drugs sentencing policies have not yet been translated to the War on Terror. This Feature advocates for a more effective and just counterterrorism strategy that would provide for greater nuance in sentencing terrorism offenders and focus on rehabilitation rather than on lengthy punitive incarceration.