# Possible ramifications of changing federal law to recognize domestic terrorism as a crime **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 12, 2018, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/possible-ramifications-of-changing-federal-law-to-recognize-domestic-terrorism-as-a-crime/806449 "2018-01-12T07:04:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![brujaja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4af34b/32.png) [@brujaja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brujaja)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2018, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/possible-ramifications-of-changing-federal-law-to-recognize-domestic-terrorism-as-a-crime/806449/1 "2018-01-12T07:04:21Z")
According to [this article,](https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/white-terrorists-domestic-extremists_us_5a550158e4b003133ecceb74?ncid=inblnkushpmg00000009) there is a reason why the authorities are reluctant to publicly refer to incidents of domestic terrorism as terrorism in the press. Apparently, if someone affiliated in some way with a group already identified internationally as a terrorist organization, commits an act of violence, the law clearly recognizes that as terrorism and it can be described & charged as such. But if a lone or unaffiliated person commits a similar act, should the authorities refer to it as terrorism, they run the risk of screwing up the case for the prosecution, because doing so establishes a legal basis for the defense to claim that the prosecution is prejudiced against the defendant. It seems to hinge on the fact that the federal government does not yet have a specific charge of domestic terrorism. I would like to form an educated opinion on this issue, but I don’t know enough. The article alludes in a general way to possible scenarios wherein changing federal law to recognize domestic terrorism as a crime may have negative consequences. I want to understand this better. What do you guys think?