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Introduction to the USA PATRIOT Act
Essay for the patriot act
Essay for the patriot act
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The USA Patriot Act, also known as "Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism" was a rushed act passed 45 days after the devastating terrorist attack on the twin towers September 11th, 2001. It was composed with the intention of finding and prosecuting international terrorists on American soil, but consequently violated the constitution. In addition, the Patriot act allows surveillance on all emails, internet, and cell phones to try and catch terrorists. Regardless, the act ended up having more power than primarily planned as stated in the CNN debate on the patriot act. America was founded on the principle of individual liberties and the pursuit of happiness in the context
1. Personally, I believe the constitution was the better document because it had more power. The articles of confederation gave the states more power than congress had, and because of this states either did was it said or did not. Because of the states having more power over Congress, the states did not focus on the needs of the whole country but only cared for their own state and what is best for their people. The constitution is better because it was easier to make changes and amendments to it.
The United States of America’s Patriot Act is a law or bill in place that is meant for our government to spy on terrorists. This Act is a very nice tool that the FBI, CIA, Army, and many other branches can use to track people. It came into effect after the September 11, 2001 attack on the twin towers. The USA Patriot Act includes information sharing, roving wiretaps, access to records, foreign intelligence, wiretaps and searches, “Sneak and Peek” warrants, and material support. Although there is plenty of people that do not support the Act it is very beneficial and goes through a couple of reforms every once and awhile.
Trying to strengthen national security as quickly as possible, this act made changes to US law, so that future acts of terrorism could be prevented. This act specifically allows foe the wider uses of actions and tools when looking for harmful terrorists. Although both acts called for enhancing national security and defense when it was needed, the Patriot Act is more effective in not only securing protection for US citizens, but is also a necessary action. In
This act increased the federal powers imposed on the citizens in order to help their efforts towards investigating terrorists. These powers included telephone taps, internet taps, voice mail, grand jury information, immigration, money laundering, and crime. While these powers made it easier for the government to track down possible suspects of terrorism, it interfered with the people’s right to privacy. All the provisions under the Patriot Act can be used on the citizens with the approval of a court order. Furthermore, it interfered with the Fourth Amendment.
The Bill of Rights was passed by congress on September 25, 1789 and was ratified on December 15 , 1791. James Madison and George Manson contributed to the bill rights. In the website, “Bill of Rights Institute,” the “Bill of Rights of The United States of America (1791)” explains the history of the Bill of Rights. At first 17 amendments were agreed on at the house but only 12 out of those 17 were approved. From there , only 10 were passed after being sent to the rest of the states.
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.
Throughout the history of American Constitution, almost 5000 amendments have been introduced in the Congress. However only 27 amendments have been ratified by the Congress[1].The first ten amendments to the Constitution of the U.S. were passed and ratified in December 1791 by the Congress. The document was written and codified by the Founding Father, James Madison. The second part of amendments was adopted separately. It was a historical moment since after such resolutions the lives of American citizens have changed incredibly.
The Patriot act when passed it was overlooked, rushed and it did hinder our rights and privacy, however at that time who was thinking about their right and privacy when such an act had just happened. I was in high school when the Patriot Act went into law and all I cared was to make sure that the people that planned the attack get what they deserved for killing so many Americans. Maybe, they waited for the time that the American people were vulnerable to pass the Patriot Act, because they knew it wasn’t going to get everyone’s attention. Now, that a lot of people know how the Patriot Act works and how it has been used, we the American people want it gone or to have a better supervision so that individuals with malicious intent wont misuse it
Nearly one hundred years ago, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) was formed in order to encourage and protect freedom of speech and other constitutional rights, especially to groups that are often seen as controversial and thus less deserving of those rights. Its position remains largely the same today. The major issues the ACLU champions in the current day are full rights for LGBT Americans, abortion rights, freedom from government surveillance, and combating mass incarceration. The ACLU lobbies, but mostly uses legal means to affect the government. The ACLU provides legal counsel in civil liberties cases, files civil liberties suits, and participates often in amicus curiae briefs.
Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act allows U.S. intelligence agencies to acquire foreign intelligence information by monitoring foreign persons in the USA and abroad. This act ensures that intelligence agencies can respond in time to terminate a security threat. The most important part of this act, the Section 702 forbids deliberate monitoring of US citizens and their communication. Technically NSA has been violating this act ever since it has been enacted in 2008 because, as we know, they have been monitoring all US citizenry.
Statement to the Court Upon Being Convicted of Violating the Sedition Act Analysis The Sedition Act was passed in 1918 by the US to criminalize criticisms of World War I from citizens within the US. Many people were outraged by this act, believing it to be a violation of democracy's basic principles of freedom; speech and personal liberties. Many argued it was unconstitutional because it violated the First Amendment's protection for free speech. The act was enforced by the government, and thousands were arrested, even those who spoke against the war.
“At least 42 terrorist attacks aimed at the United States have been thwarted since 9/11” (Reality). The majority of people know about the tragedy that happened on September 11th, 2001, but not that many people know about what came to be after the event; the Patriot Act. This act is the “Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001” (Miller). The Patriot Act got put in place by the President and almost got a unanimous vote to pass it nearly ten days after. It was later used to take down many of the 42 attack plots.
The Fourth Amendment is “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.” In other words, it is against the law for police to search any person without probable cause and an issued warrant. (Cartoon Surveillance) This protects the privacy of the innocent people that may not be considered guilty. However, giving the people a right to a warrant is only giving them an advantage, while the police and the government have a disadvantage.
People claim that nowadays they are living in surveillance society because Big Brother in twenty first century is keeping a close eye on people’s daily life. If so what is the meaning of Big Brother? The word Big Brother first introduced in George Orwell’s book named 1984. He said that “Big Brother is Watching You. ”(George Orwell, published year).