Patriot Act Research Paper

1261 Words6 Pages

1. The Patriot Act (Title II, Sec. 213) allows for the delayed notification of the execution of a search warrant. Under what circumstances can the notification be delayed?

The Patriot Act upholds a standard for the protection of privacy while performing search and seizure actions under the emphases that a physical warrant document is issued to the person that the search is performed on. With that being said, under Section 213 of the Patriot Act, Rule 41 authorizes a search warrant without the immediate notification given directly to the person that the search is performed on. This authority for the delaying notice of the execution of a warrant, is known as a “sneak and peek” (Doyle, 2001) warrant. The delaying of a warrant rest on the notion that a court finds the situation to be a matter of “physical safety to an individual or group, use of unlawful flight to avoid prosecution, destruction of or tampering with evidence; intimidation of potential witnesses; or otherwise seriously jeopardize an investigation or unduly delay a trial as the kinds of adverse consequences that justify delay” (Sec. 2705, Doyle. 2001). …show more content…

citizens. Sneak and peek law allowed for the delayed notification of issuing search warrants. The period before the FBI must notify the recipient of the order was unspecified in the act. The FBI field manual states that it is a flexible standard and may be extended by the court’s discretion (Field Guidance, FBI,