- Last month, the Michigan Court of Appeals ruled that the state's anti-terrorism law is unconstitutional.
- That law is the same one that police say 18-year-old MSU Student Hope Duncan violated in the MSU threat case.
- Video shows Law Professor Michael McDaniel explaining what it means for the case, and others like it around the state.
(The following is a transcription of the full broadcast story)
Last week, 18-year-old MSU Student Hope Duncan was arrested after police say she sent an online threat toward the MSU community. But, a recent Michigan Court of Appeals ruling struck down Michigan's anti-terrorism law. So I sat down with a legal expert to ask what it meant for the case.
"We didn't even have a law in Michigan making terrorism a crime at the time," Michael McDaniel said.
Cooley Law School Professor Michael McDaniel knows the Michigan anti-terrorism law well because he helped write it back in 2002 with the Michigan Attorney General's Office.
"We drafted three pieces of legislation," McDaniel said "One, of course, made terrorism a crime."
But the State Court of Appeals recently said the anti-terrorism law is unconstitutional.
McDaniel says that the decision creates problems for criminal cases across the state. Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel echoed those concerns, saying in a statement, "Striking down this crucial law hinders my office's ability and the ability of prosecutors in all 83 counties from doing their jobs to hold those who threaten our communities accountable, making Michigan less safe."
Nessel also noted that her office currently has eight pending cases under the anti-terrorism law. I read through court documents and found it's that same anti-terrorism law that police say Duncan violated in the MSU threat case. She has pleaded not guilty.
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McDaniel says those cases, and others like them, can move forward while courts await a decision from the Michigan Supreme Court on the constitutionality issue, but it's likely defense teams will use the Court of Appeals ruling to fight the charges.
"You're going to have criminal defense attorneys who are going to raise the same defense," McDaniel said. "Is this unconstitutional?"
McDaniel says it also raises questions for law enforcement in the meantime...
"Law enforcement is hampered," he said. "They're going to have to look at other crimes. Was there a crime committed during the use of a computer? Can't use that now, because you have to have an underlying predicated crime as well, and we don't know if we have one right now. So we need the Michigan Supreme Court to rule on this as quickly as possible."
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