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Domestic Surveillance

1438 Words6 Pages

The Need for NSA
Domestic surveillance plays a vital role in maintaining the country’s national security, and to reassure the citizens that they are properly protected from foreign and domestic attacks. The National Security Agency monitors Americans and other individuals around the world, who may be considered to be potential threats to the United States, and therefore bringing the nation under a state of emergency. The NSA is a subtle and yet legitimate way of preventing attacks against the United States, as the agency is governed by a particular set of legal rules in which they are permitted to exercise their powers in the benefit of the nation’s well being. The professional surveillance carried out by the NSA is an integral part of the …show more content…

Executive order 12333 issued by President Ronald Reagan, found in the U.S. National Archives, stated that “timely and accurate information about the activities, capabilities, plans, and intentions of foreign powers, organizations, and persons and their agents, is essential to the national security of the United States. All reasonable and lawful means must be used to ensure that the United States will receive the best intelligence available.” The rationale behind the executive order was to ensure that the United States, through the operation of the NSA and within reasonable legal bounds, have power to keep the nation’s interests protected from harmful foreign and domestic intrusions and attacks. The executive order clearly stipulated that the collection of such information must be conducted within legal bounds and reasonable means, therefore reinforcing the core notion of compliance to the law, and that no one person or agency had the power to act beyond it. Though it is true that, under the program, the government is able to acquire a large volume of business records containing telephony metadata, but according to the Justice Department, it is consistent with the governing Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court orders, which authorizes the program to use and analyze the information only under highly restricted circumstances. The NSA’s grant is renewed on an annual basis, and has been for the last 30 years. This annual renewal process clearly indicates that there is support from the Senate and also from the Judiciary for the NSA to continue in its actions. It has been argued that the NSA actions have violated the Fourth Amendment’s prohibition on unreasonable searches and seizures, and the American’s

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253 Words | 2 Pages

Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) allows the United States government to gather foreign intelligence information concerning persons located outside of the country that are, or are connected to, a potential threat against the nation. In addition to protecting national security, the communications data collected under Section 702 has been used for criminal prosecution in domestic court cases. Since it passed in 2008, scholars have raised questions over the act’s constitutionality, especially about its consistence with the Fourth Amendment which protects both US and non-US persons against unreasonable searches and seizures. These scholars argue that not all communications gathered under Section 702 meet the reasonableness requirement of the Fourth Amendment and should therefore not be used in criminal cases. However, Section 702 mainly conflicts with the Constitution only when the act is used inappropriately by agencies to investigate people residing within the US rather than for its intended purpose of gathering foreign intelligence.

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734 Words | 3 Pages

Standing Up to Turn off the Cameras* [1] Every morning at the beginning of the school day, I stand and pledge my allegiance to the American flag reciting at the close, “with liberty and justice for all.” [2] The flag represents loyalty to my country as well as the freedom and equality my country grants me. When these rights are threatened by unfair and misused government surveillance, I question my daily allegiance. I want to feel safe in my school, my community, and my home, but I also do not want to feel that Big Brother’s watchful eye may endanger this security. [3] Although surveillance cameras can solve crimes, these monitoring systems can also negatively impact justice and privacy.

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953 Words | 4 Pages

This is a clear example that shows that even the most controversial parts of the Patriot Act are not just constitutional, but strongly supported by the Constitution. From this, many see that any attempted claims that the Patriot Act is wrong in the law are based merely on thought. But, there are more than one sections of the Patriot Act that are up for debate. Any arguments against the Patriot Act are destroyed quickly due to the fact that, “no single provision of the Patriot Act has ever been found unconstitutional,” (McNeil). Once again, it is clear that the Patriot Act is constitutional.

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1084 Words | 5 Pages

The wiretapping program is used to collect data that is transmitted on a network and allows the government to eavesdrop without a warrant. The use of this program is easy for the NSA to snoop and allows the government to eavesdrop without having to present a warrant. President George W. Bush had addressed this program as a crucial part to the National Security Agency, yet this announcement led to the wild growth of the NSA’s power. The NSA took advantage of the program and used it to spy on the conversations between foreign nationals, U.S. citizens, and international communications. However, curious of the program and questioning President Bush’s speech, a group from the U.S. senate decided to look into the situation.

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748 Words | 3 Pages

Even Obama who promised, “In his campaign for the presidency, a repeal of some of its more sinister provisions (surveillance, wiretaps and so forth). It has not been repealed… Obama this year signed a four-year extension of it.” The Quote makes a point that the government officials believe that everything under the patriot act should still

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989 Words | 4 Pages

In 2007, a report by the Inspector General of the Justice Department stated they found “widespread and serious abuse of authority by the F.B.I under the Patriot Act” (Rosen, Jeffrey.). American citizens’ feared that the Patriot Act would be abused to search personal information like: emails, text messages, and phone calls. Senator Ron Wyden, Democrat of Oregon, presented a new bill that would correct Section 215. The senator’s “amendment would have required law enforcement officials to demonstrate that the records were connected to terrorism before seizing them” however, President Obama did not persist that this change be made before he re-authorized the Patriot Act (Rosen, Jeffrey.). Overall, Section 215 has been manipulated unlawfully compared to the constitution therefore; the Patriot Act should be

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499 Words | 2 Pages

It is impossible to discuss civil liberties and security without talking about 9/11 and the Patriot Act. The Patriot Act was passed almost immediately after 9/11, hugely expanding intelligence agencies ability to investigate potential terrorism. However, critics of the law say that it infringed on the civil liberties of the innocent and did not guarantee proper oversight of law enforcement agencies in their execution and use of these newfound powers. I agree that as war and violence evolve, so must our methods of preventing them. In this digital age preventing such violence means monitoring information channels and being able to respond to leads rapidly and subtly.

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1199 Words | 5 Pages

Since the approved, the Patriot Act has granted law enforcement investigation with the “roving wiretaps.” Proponents assert that this improvement to investigative abilities is a vital key element to intercepts and prevent terrorism and is legal. In 2009, the authorizations of “Roving wiretaps” were set to expire in December of that same year. With desperation proponents like, FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III urged law makers to renew what he called, “exceptional’ tools to help protect national security” (Johnson).

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1271 Words | 6 Pages

Ever since Harry Truman, the government has been keeping internet and phone records. But now, it’s gone too far. On October 26, 2001, President George W Bush signed the USA Patriot Act. When it went through Congress, the House of Representatives passed the act with a vote of

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513 Words | 3 Pages

Have you ever wondered why the Patriot Act played a big part in history or why it is so important to us? Well the government has compromised our civil liberties through the use of the Patriot Act. They also abused our privacy which wasn’t fair for us. The history of the Patriot Act, the abuse of our rights, and the way everything ended made the Americans feel like they couldn’t trust their government because they felt like they were always being watched. Through the Patriot Act, the law enforcement agencies and the government are given wide optional powers to acquire information not only from suspected people but also from the law-abiding Americans.

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457 Words | 2 Pages

The far-reaching powers of the Patriot Act has substantially empowered our law enforcement agencies and allowed them to apprehend many offenders who otherwise would have gotten away with their crimes. Despite it being contradictious to the fourth amendment of the US constitution, it is not only helping prevent disastrous events in our nation but also equally instrumental in protecting American lives and defending civil liberties. After the endorsement of the Patriot Act, the tools and power it provided to our law enforcement agencies has enhanced our domestic security. This act tore down the legal and bureaucratic walls that would otherwise keep the law enforcement agencies from being able to share vital information freely about the terrorist’s

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774 Words | 4 Pages

The Fourth Amendment 's permits the government to monitor people who are not even thought to be doing anything wrong (surveillance procedures).Telephone calls and emails could be under surveillance, by the NSA or any other government program (Senate Committee).Documents show NSA conducts sweeping surveillance Americans international communications (Senate Committee). The courts must determine what constitutes a search or seizure under the Fourth Amendment (Fourth Amendment). Therefore, The Fourth Amendment does protect our rights to privacy under searches and seizures. The Fourth Amendment makes people in American feel safe and secure. David Sirota says, “National Intelligence admitted illegal surveillance was still taking place"(understand).

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870 Words | 4 Pages

Since its initiation, we only know about one instance in which the NSA stopped has stopped an act of terrorism. That’s not to say that it has only stopped one terrorist organization but this is the only on we know about, but for the amount of money (exact amount is classified, but is estimated to be about $10 billion a year) that is being spent on the NSA more should have been done by now. For example, many school shooters have posted on social media either pictures of themselves armed to the teeth or actual threats against their school. The NSA is supposed to monitor social media, phone records, etc. so why aren’t they catching these school shooters?

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1588 Words | 7 Pages

The Patriot Act and Civil Liberties Civil liberties and freedoms are a fundamental part of America, and the lives of its citizens. Americans believe that they are born with these rights, and that nobody, not even the government who provides these rights, can take them away. Some people are willing to give up some of these freedoms for safety, but many have grown used to them and will not accept any infringement into their lives. The events of 9/11 are a major contributing factor to relinquishing of some of these rights by citizens for the protection of freedom and of the country. They believe that the government knows how to protect them from terrorists, but their rights will not be violated like those of a terrorist.

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1030 Words | 5 Pages

Civil liberties are rights guaranteed to citizens in the Constitution that the government cannot interfere with, however, in the name of national security, they do. The government sometimes finds it necessary for Americans to give up some of their basic rights to keep the nation protected, but many people find this unnecessary. A law-abiding citizen’s extremely personal information should not be essential to finding terroristic threats within this society. Under no circumstances should an American citizen’s civil liberties be violated in a time of war or crisis, because those are assured rights that are most valuable to their freedom during national conflicts.

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