if it is within the constitutional power of the Government; if it furthers an important or substantial governmental interest; if the governmental interest is unrelated to the suppression of free expression; and if the incidental restriction on alleged First Amendment freedoms is no greater than is essential to the furtherance of that interest.
[i]t follows that all material support given to [foreign terrorist] organizations aids their unlawful goals. Indeed, ... terrorist organizations do not maintain open books. Therefore, when someone makes a donation to them, there is no way to tell how the donation is used. Further, ... even contributions earmarked for peaceful purposes can be used to give aid to the families of those killed while carrying out terrorist acts, thus making the decision to engage in terrorism more attractive. More fundamentally, money is fungible; giving support intended to aid an organization's peaceful activities frees up resources that can be used for terrorist acts.
must weigh the reasons for the government's delay and whether it acted intentionally or in bad faith; the degree of prejudice, if any, suffered by the defendant; and whether any less severe sanction will remedy the prejudice and the wrongdoing of the government.
[T]he experts acknowledged that information gleaned from informants over the course of their FBI careers was part of the vast mix of material that contributed to their background expertise on La Cosa Nostra. This expertise, in turn, enabled them to listen to the tapes and form opinions on defendants' criminal activities. The fact that informant information furnished some part of the experts' background knowledge does not implicate the sixth amendment. Regardless of the information that contributed to their background expertise, the experts' testimony regarding the particular charges against these defendants was based solely on an analysis of the tape recordings [that were played at trial].
Our precedents make clear ... that the “statutory maximum” for Apprendi purposes is the maximum sentence a judge may impose solely on the basis of the facts reflected in the jury verdict or admitted by the defendant. In other words, the relevant “statutory maximum” is not the maximum sentence a judge may impose after finding additional facts, but the maximum he may impose without any additional findings.
Although the Guidelines are intended to have substantive effects on public behavior ..., they do not bind or regulate the primary conduct of the public or vest in the Judicial Branch the legislative responsibility for establishing minimum and maximum penalties for every crime. They do no more than fetter the discretion of sentencing judges to do what they have done for generations—impose sentences within the broad limits established by Congress.
The McMillan Court's apparent concern was not whether the sentencing factor's effect on the ultimate sentence was significant, but whether it was appropriately characterized as guiding the court's discretion in punishing the defendant for the crime for which he was convicted. As long as a sentencing factor does not alter the statutory range of penalties faced by the defendant for the crime of which he was convicted, McMillan permits the factor to be found by preponderance of the evidence.
Our precedents make clear ... that the “statutory maximum” for Apprendi purposes is the maximum sentence a judge may impose solely on the basis of the facts reflected in the jury verdict or admitted by the defendant. In other words, the relevant “statutory maximum” is not the maximum sentence a judge may impose after finding additional facts, but the maximum he may impose without any additional findings. When a judge inflicts punishment that the jury's verdict alone does not allow, the jury has not found all the facts which the law makes essential to the punishment, and the judge exceeds his proper authority.3
[E]very anti-Communist law struck down by the Supreme Court for imposing guilt by association could have simply been rewritten to penalize dues payments to the Party. It would also lead to the anomalous result that while leaders of the NAACP could not be held responsible for injuries sustained during an NAACP-led economic boycott absent proof of specific intent, Claiborne Hardware, 458 U.S. at 920, 102 S.Ct. 3409, the NAACP's thousands of individual donors could have been held liable without any showing of specific intent.
In our jurisprudence guilt is personal, and when the imposition of punishment on a status or on conduct can only be justified by reference to that relationship of that status or conduct to other concededly criminal activity ..., that relationship must be sufficiently substantial to satisfy the concept of personal guilt in order to withstand attack under the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment.
[A] cab driver could be guilty for giving a ride to a FTO member to the UN, if he knows that the person is a member of a FTO .... Similarly, a hotel clerk in New York could be committing a crime by providing lodging to that same FTO member under similar circumstances as the cab driver.
to convict a defendant under Section 2339B(a)(1) the government must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant knew that (a) the organization was a FTO or had committed unlawful activities that caused it to be so designated; and (b) what he was furnishing was “material support.” To avoid Fifth Amendment personal guilt problems ... the government must show more than a defendant knew something was within a category of “material support” in order to meet (b). In order to meet (b), the government must show that the defendant knew (had a specific intent ) that the support would further the illegal activities of a FTO.
[N]othing in the Constitution provides the right to engage in violence against fellow citizens or foreign nations. Aiding and financing foreign terrorist bombings is not constitutionally protected activity.... I have to believe that honest donors to any organization want to know if their contributions are being used for such scurrilous terrorist purposes. *380 We are going to be able to tell them after this bill.... I am convinced we have crafted a narrow but effective designation provision which meets these obligations while safeguarding the freedom to associate, which none of us would willingly give up.
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