ABSTRACT
This chapter demonstrates that 9/11 altered which types of crimes are most commonly considered terrorism by the United States (US) government. The role of the judicial system in the United States is to interpret the law. In theory, the system should be, and claims to be, independent of party affiliation and other external pressures. In the United States, there is no central definition that designates what does or does not constitute terrorism. Many agencies and organizations develop their own definition of the term. The 14th Amendment grants equal protection under the law. In theory, all similar crimes should be classified and prosecuted equally. The impacts and implications of 9/11 have been analyzed from many different perspectives by scholars since 2001. A 2012 article written by Sunny Skye Hughes analyzed three cases of First Amendment rights violations due to the Terrorist Surveillance Program instituted after 9/11.
