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Edward Snowden Persuasive Essay

2540 Words11 Pages

During what is arguably the most difficult period in U.S. history, Honest Abe expressed his hopes that “government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.” The NSA surveillance program goes against this principle. It poses a substantial threat to the social contract and is illegal both domestically and globally. Edward Snowden’s revelations about these activities were done so in the public interest and set him apart from many other Americans charged with espionage by the U.S. government- he is a whistleblower. For this reason, in the eyes of the international community he has committed a non-violent political crime (under the assumption that he has committed a crime). Because of this and other reasons, granting Snowden political asylum is absolutely within Russia’s rights. One can witness a large effort on behalf of the US government, from the latter half of the 20th century …show more content…

For too long the public hasn’t been able to provide its consent or express disapproval because it has been increasingly left out from decision making and kept in the dark. The Fourth Amendment in the Bill of Rights clarifies that “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.” Citizens and those who fall under the jurisdiction of the US are thus entitled to privacy, and the government is only allowed to suspend this right with a reasonable basis, probable clause and a warrant. Under the First Amendment “Congress shall make no law... abridging the freedom of speech... and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.” The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978, subsequent Patriot Act of 2001 and FISA

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It is far more dangerous to attempt to gag the people than to allow them to speak freely. If the Espionage Law stands, then the Constitution of the United States is dead. American institutions are on trial here before a court of American citizens. The future will render the final verdict (Foner, Voices of Freedom, Document

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The moment that the Twin Towers fell in New York, America became destined for change. In the wake of these attacks, the USA PATRIOT Act of 2001 was quickly passed through congress, and signed by then-president, George W. Bush. The act itself gives the FBI and other government agencies the ability to do and use certain methods, many of which are already used by other law enforcement organizations, to help prevent future terrorist attacks. Since then, this piece of legislation has been the center of much debate and controversy. But, there is ample reason to believe that the Patriot Act is needed and effective.

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The patriot Act was an abbreviation, meaning: "Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001". The goal of the Patriot Act was that it allowed for search of any home when the FBI suspected terrorism.   It also allowed for search of telephone. internet and financial records without a warrant. Government powers went beyond the fourth amendment when it concerned issues of terrorism.

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Now in today’s standards, you only have freedom of semi-privacy that the Patriot Act believes is non-threatening. By them monitoring your texts, emails, history along with things you look for in search engines you never truly free to say anything or look up anything you want. Also what followed after this act were the random abductions of people. They take the “random,” person and ship them to another country to loophole their laws of not permitting torturing someone in this country. Instead they hire other countries to do their dirty work.

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According to the BBC, it has become known that the NSA was responsible in the massive surveillance of millions of ordinary Americans through the PRISM progra,, not just those who have suspected links to terrorism. Companies such as Facebook, Google, Microsoft, and Yahoo routinely provided a back door for the NSA to tap into their servers and track online communications (Document 1). This article was released about two years after the leaks when the debates over the future of the PATRIOT Act started to intensify. The National Security Agency strong armed these firms into giving up clients’ private data. No one stood in their way because the NSA had the full backing of the blinded Congress.

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Imagine being eavesdropped by the government, while talking a private conversation. This would make people feel unsafe. Katz, a person who experienced it, went to court because of this. The Supreme Court agrees to hear about 100-150 cases out of 7,000 per year. Cases are brought up to the court by the people filing a complaint or the people think their rights has been deprived by other citizens(USGOV).

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The U.S follows a different school of surveillance. Despite the fundamental right to be held “innocent until proven guilty”, it monitors everyone until proven innocent. The status quo could of course damage America’s long known liberties granted by the Constitution. Recent revelations by whistleblower Edward Snowden, have confirmed that the government is more likely to cross some constitutional lines in the name of national security. “The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (FISA) regulates the government’s acquisition of any electronic surveillance within the country for foreign intelligence use.

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The case against Edward Snowden is strong. He acted with recklessness and possible self-serving convenience; even so, by shedding light on the invasive government actions taken to deal with terrorism, Snowden did his country a service, demanding accountability from a branch of the government that has been given free reign because of our post-9/11 fears. Still the fear persists that a society that accepts challenges to laws also insights anarchy (Leibman). This argument quickly falls flat: civil disobedience is action taken to fulfill a worthy higher principle, not just a means to benefit oneself. The intricacies of this were exposed when the acting Attorney General refused to allow the Justice Department to defend President Trump’s travel ban until its constitutionality could be affirmed.

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In 2001 after the tragedy of 9/11 President George W. Bush passed the PATRIOT Act. The act is supposed to protect Americans from future terrorist attacks, but what it's actually doing is defying most principles this country was founded upon. Section 215 of the PATRIOT Act enables the FBI and the NSA to listen to the phone records of millions of Americans. Not only is the government invading the privacy of millions, but the way it's being done is illegal. The government is invading on the personal lives of people who have never been suspected of being a terrorist.

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On September 11th, 2001 two planes horrifically struck the world trade center killing 2977 Americans. The President, Senate, and House of Representatives enacted the Patriot Act in response to this horrendous act of terrorism. This act allows the United States Government to track suspected terrorists' phone calls, purchases, and suspicious activities. The act has provided new ways to fraught the plans of terrorists before they can come into action. Since the passing of the Patriot Act, the NSA has been able to stop major attacks before they even happen.

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NSA hides the fact that they are monitoring on US citizens without the warrant as they find some connection between the person monitored and some illegal activity to justify their monitoring. At first, after the 9/11, President George W. Bush started a program of mass monitoring of US communication. He had started it without FISA Court’s knowledge and when the population find out about this Congress had to create and enact the FISA Amendment Act of 2008 and inside was the crucial Section 702 that, by law, validates mass monitoring over the last 7 years. These communication monitoring systems rely on these two statutes: FISA Amendment Act of 2008 (Section 702) and Patriot Act (Section 215).

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In 2001 only a little over a month after 911 The Patriot Act was passed. On the surface the act seems to be concerned with the safety of the American people; however it was reactionary, a result of the culture of fear created by America’s first experience with terrorism, a word that still holds a powerful

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The whole point of the Fourth Amendment is not to completely stop the police, because the amendment can be waived if an officer has a warrant, or a person’s consent. The Fourth Amendment states that generally a search or seizure is illegal unless there is a warrant, or special circumstances. Technically stating that a citizen is protected by the Fourth Amendment, until a government employee gets a warrant, and then they can invade a citizen’s privacy. Also people state that the FISA Court’s warrants are constitutional, but the NSA’s surveillance is unconstitutional. Even though people do not like the NSA’s surveillance, the NSA is legal because the FISA Court that the people did not mind makes it legal.

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The Fourth Amendment protects American citizens from unlawful searches and seizures. Although, if a government agency has a lawful reason the court will present them with a search warrant. This Amendment protects American Citizens from having their personal property searched by the government without a search warrant. With the Fourth Amendment American citizens feel safe and secure from unlawful searches and seizures. The amendment also prevents worry of government trespassing without a warrant.

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The main issue in the Snowden controversy is the conflicting rights of private individuals and the US government with regard to the use of telecommunications and the internet. There are ethical issues surrounding this controversy and the most applicable ethical approach for this case is “Ethics by Rights Approach”. As a background, the reason why US government had declared Edward Snowden a traitor is his involvement in the leaking of about 1.7 million confidential US documents, 15,000 Australian intelligence files and 58,000 British intelligence files from the National Security Agency (or NSA) to the public. These confidential information were acquired by the NSA through the PRISM program by collaborating with big internet companies such

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