An Analysis of the Legal Issues Relating to the Prevention of Nuclear and Radiological Terr.pdf

American Behavioral Scientist DOI: 10.1177/0002764202239178 2003; 46; 845 American Behavioral Scientist Brian Levin and Sara-Ellen Amster An Analysis of the Legal Issues Relating to the Prevention of Nuclear and Radiological Terrorism /cgi/content/abstract/46/6/845 The online version of this article can be found at: Published by: can be found at:American Behavioral Scientist Additional services and information for /cgi/alerts Email Alerts: /subscriptions Subscriptions: /journalsReprints.navReprints: /journalsPermissions.navPermissions: ? 2003 SAGE Publications. All rights reserved. Not for commercial use or unauthorized distribution. at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on April 17, 2008 Downloaded from An Analysis of the Legal Issues Relating to the Prevention of Nuclear and Radiological Terrorism BRIAN LEVIN California State University, San Bernardino SARA-ELLEN AMSTER University of California, San Diego The potential for nuclear and radiological terrorism is a concern for policy makers as the motives and methods of many modern terrorists have changed to embrace weapons of mass destruction. Because these threats likely involve malefactors who rely on a combination of preparation, cooperation, and technical data, it is important to examine how the law addresses preliminary criminal activity as well as access to potentially dangerous informa- tion. Although criminal and First Amendment legal sanctions are primarily oriented to address past activities, they do allow authorities to act prospectively in limited circum- stances. These circumstances can include instances where nuclear or radiological terrorism is a possibility. Keywords: terrorism; civil liberties; nuclear; radiological; First Amendment The threat of nuclear and radiological terrorism has shifted from merely being the topic of fringe theoretical scholarly debate to an operational issue for policy makers. Government agencies now issue high-level threat warnings about the possibility of nuclear-re