NRS § 202.448 is the Nevada law that makes it a crime to issue a threat related to terrorism with the intent to:
- injure or alarm someone,
- cause civil unrest,
- profit, or
- interfere with government operations
If the threat involved an explosive, you would instead face prosecution under the separate offense of making a bomb threat in Nevada (NRS 202.840)
Penalties
Making terrorist threats in violation of NRS 202.448 is a category B felony. The sentence includes:
- 2 – 20 years in Nevada State Prison, and
- up to $5,000 in fines (at the judge’s discretion)
Though it may be possible to persuade the prosecutor to agree to a plea bargain where the charge gets reduced down to a more minor offense or possibly a dismissal.
Common Defenses
Courts may dismiss NRS 202.448 charges if:
- You lacked malicious intent;
- You were falsely accused; and/or
- Your speech was protected.
Law enforcement takes very seriously any hint of sabotage or violence that could lead to substantial injury or destruction to the general population. Consequently, any word or action you make that police believe may be related to terrorism can subject you to criminal prosecution for terrorist threats.
In this article, our Las Vegas criminal defense lawyers discuss:
- 1. What is the legal definition of terrorist threats?
- 2. How do I fight NRS 202.448 charges?
- 3. What are the penalties?
- 4. Can the record be sealed?
- 5. What are the immigration consequences?
- Additional resources
1. What is the legal definition of terrorist threats?
Nevada law prohibits issuing terrorist threats, which is any threat or false information concerning an act of terrorism made with the intent to:
- injure, intimidate or alarm any person, or
- cause panic or civil unrest, or
- extort or profit, or
- interfere with the operations of – or cause economic or other damage to – any person or any division of government
It does not matter whether the threat actually resulted in any harm. Merely communicating a threat with the intent to cause injury, panic, profit or destruction qualifies as criminal activity.1 Examples include:
- calling in a threat to a concert, mall, school, or place of worship
- sending a threatening letter to city hall
- texting threats of harm to Planned Parenthood
Note that NRS 202.448 does not encompass making a bogus bomb threat. Both acts are serious felonies, though making terrorist threats carries potentially higher prison terms than making bomb threats.2
Also note that in California law, this offense is commonly called “criminal threats” (Penal Code 422 PC) rather than “terrorist threats.”
Even if no one gets injured, making a terrorist threat is a category B felony in Nevada carrying up to 20 years in prison.
2. How do I fight NRS 202.448 charges?
Which defenses would be most effective in fighting charges of violating NRS 202.448 in Nevada depend on the facts of the case. Some of the more common strategies a defense attorney may use are:
- Lack of malicious intent
- False allegations
- Protected speech
Note that it is not a defense to NRS 202.448 allegations that nobody was physically harmed.
You didn’t have any malicious intent
You are not criminally liable for violating NRS 202.448 if you did not deliberately mean to injure or alarm anyone, cause panic, make a profit or interfere with government operations. If the D.A. cannot show that your intentions were malicious, the whole case may be thrown out.
Example: While at a restaurant, Jack makes a bad joke to his wife how he hates air travel so much he is going to hijack his next flight. Someone at the next table overhears and informs the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department. But when the police determine Jack was joking, talking in hyperbole, and had no intent to alarm anyone, they decide not to arrest him.
Had Jack in the above example made a similar comment while in the airport or on a plane, authorities probably would have detained and interrogated him extensively before letting him go.
The allegations are false
Perhaps someone falsely accused you out of revenge, anger or an innocent misunderstanding.
Example: Kim is enraged at her ex-husband Tom for not paying child support. So she calls the Henderson Police and claims she heard him say that he was going to shoot up their church. The police arrest Tom for making terrorist threats. But if the defense attorney can show that Kim lied, the charge should be dropped.
Note that Kim in the above example could face charges for filing a false police report in Nevada.
You engaged in protected speech
NRS 202.448 is not meant to curtail you from speaking freely or having emotional outbursts to your physicians, mental health therapists, and attorneys.
Example: Jim is an inmate at Clark County Detention Center. During a session with the jail psychotherapist, he cries over his abusive childhood and said that he dreams of shooting up his old high school when he gets out. The psychotherapist reports this to the warden, and prosecutors arrest him for making a terrorist threat. Though the judge in the case determines that the context of Jim’s words – an emotional therapy session – protects his speech from prosecution.3
No matter the context, the prosecution has the burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. As long as the defense attorney can show that the state’s evidence is inadequate to support a conviction, the NRS 202.448 charge should be dropped.
3. What are the penalties?
Violating NRS 202.448 is prosecuted as a category B felony in Nevada. The punishment may include:
- two to twenty (2 – 20) years in Nevada State Prison, and
- up to $5,000 in fines (at the judge’s discretion)
Judges may also order community service, counseling or other rehabilitative services.
When determining the sentence, judges consider the circumstances surrounding the alleged threat such as:
- your motivation,
- the nature of the threats, and
- the extent of the damage done4
Note that minors (under 18 years old) accused of terrorist threats may have their case prosecuted in juvenile court, though prosecutors can request that they be tried as adults.
Plea bargains
Depending on the case, D.A.s may try to avoid trial by offering to reduce NRS 202.448 charges down to:
- reckless endangerment, which can be either a category C felony or a gross misdemeanor, or
- breach of peace, which is only a misdemeanor
4. Can the record be sealed?
The law is currently unclear.
If violating NRS 202.448 is not a crime of violence, then a conviction may be sealed five (5) years after the case ends.6 Otherwise, it may be sealed ten (10) years after the case ends.
Certainly, a criminal defense attorney would try to argue that making terrorist threats is not a crime of violence and is therefore able to be sealed after only five (5) years.
If the charge got dismissed (meaning you did not get convicted), there is no waiting period to pursue a seal. Learn more about how to seal Nevada criminal records.7
There are several possible ways to fight NRS 202.448 charges of making terrorist threats.
5. What are the immigration consequences?
Making a terrorist threat is a deportable offense because it is a crime involving moral turpitude.8
Therefore, non-U.S.-citizens who are accused of violating NRS 202.448 should hire an attorney to attempt to get the charge dismissed or else switched to a non-removable crime.
Additional resources
For more information, refer to the following:
- Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) – Counterterrorism Division – The FBI’s Counterterrorism Division works to detect, deter, and disrupt terrorist threats to the United States, offering information on its efforts, most wanted terrorists, and related news.
- Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) – Terrorist Organizations – The CIA provides insights on global threats, including terrorism, offering analysis, reports, and the agency’s approach to counteracting terror activities.
- National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC) – NCTC serves as the primary organization in the U.S. government for integrating and analyzing all intelligence related to terrorism, ensuring agencies have access to and receive appropriate intelligence.
- Department of Homeland Security (DHS) – Counterterrorism – DHS offers a breakdown of its various initiatives and strategies to prevent and counteract terrorism, emphasizing domestic safety and coordination between agencies.
- START (National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism) – Based at the University of Maryland, START provides research and education on the causes and human consequences of terrorism, offering databases, publications, and courses related to the study of terrorism.
Legal References:
- NRS 202.448. The language of the statute reads as follows:
Making threats or conveying false information concerning acts of terrorism, weapons of mass destruction, lethal agents or toxins prohibited; penalty.
1. A person shall not, through the use of any means of oral, written or electronic communication, knowingly make any threat or convey any false information concerning an act of terrorism or the presence, development, manufacture, production, assemblage, transfer, transportation, acquisition, retention, storage, testing, possession, delivery, dispersion, release, discharge or use of any weapon of mass destruction, any biological agent, chemical agent, radioactive agent or other lethal agent or any toxin with the intent to: (a) Injure, intimidate or alarm any person, whether or not any person is actually injured, intimidated or alarmed thereby; (b) Cause panic or civil unrest, whether or not such panic or civil unrest actually occurs; (c) Extort or profit thereby, whether or not the extortion is actually successful or any profit actually occurs; or (d) Interfere with the operations of or cause economic or other damage to any person or any officer, agency, board, bureau, commission, department, division or other unit of federal, state or local government, whether or not such interference or damage actually occurs.
2. A person who violates any provision of subsection 1 is guilty of a category B felony and shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for a minimum term of not less than 2 years and a maximum term of not more than 20 years, and may be further punished by a fine of not more than $5,000. 3. The provisions of this section do not apply to any act that is committed in a lawful manner and in the course of a lawful business, event or activity.
See citations in M.C. v. State (Nev. 2015) No. 64839; Moon v. State (Nevada Court of Appeals, 2021) 490 P.3d 122. - NRS 202.840.
- There is no on-point case law in Nevada on this subject, but Nevada courts frequently look to California case law: See, for example, People v. Wilson (2010) 186 Cal.App.4th 789, 805. ((“[Penal Code] Section 422 [California’s criminal threats law] “was not enacted to punish emotional outbursts, it targets only those who try to instill fear in others. [Citation.]” (People v. Felix (2001) 92 Cal.App.4th 905, 913, 112 Cal.Rptr.2d 311.) The statute “does not punish such things as ‘mere angry utterances or ranting soliloquies, however violent.’ [Citation.]” ( Ryan D., supra, 100 Cal.App.4th at p. 861, 123 Cal.Rptr.2d 193.) Instead, a criminal threat “is a specific and narrow class of communication,” and “the expression of an intent to inflict serious evil upon another person. [Citation.]” ( Id. at p. 863, 123 Cal.Rptr.2d 193.)”)
- NRS 202.448.
- Senate Bill 125 (2017); NRS 179.245.
- NRS 179.245.
- NRS 179.255.
- 8 U.S.C. § 1227.; see Latter-Singh v. Holder, 668 F.3d 1156 (9th Cir. 2012)(“The crime threatened, therefore, would, if carried out, be a crime of moral turpitude under 8 U.S.C.S. § 1182(a)(2)(A)(i)(I) caselaw.”).