Indefinite Detention for Mega-Terrorists?

Abstract

Here, I explore one possible approach to one issue, namely, the detention of mega-terrorists. My subject is the moral case for indefinite detention. Although I refer to domestic and international law, I do not pretend to offer an analysis of what the legal status of mega-terrorist detainees would be under current U.S. or international law. The legal picture is confused-unsettled, at best. Instead, my purpose is to offer a certain perspective and the underlying moral considerations that could support a practice of indefinite detention of mega-terrorists. The issue to be addressed may be put this way: May mega-terrorists be subject to indefinite detention; and if so, on what moral grounds? Punishment for past crimes is, of course, one justification for incarceration. But another justification is preventive detention, the incapacitation of persons because they are dangerous. In this article, I consider the possibility of this preventive-detention justification. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)