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
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.
Due to the enactment of the The Patriot Act back in 2001 after the 9/11 attacks, the United States has felt its effect on their right to privacy. Many believe that the US has taken advantage of the act to spy on innocent Americans rather than actually gathering information on terrorists. Certain methods are used such as eavesdropping on phone calls, The Prism Program which contains vital information of americans across the internet. A bulk database of phone numbers etc, The Patriot Act does have its positive aspects in certain areas except privacy. However, it also comes with its cons as well.
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.
The USA PATRIOT Act stands for "Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism. " This bill was signed into law with little debate on October 26, 2001, only 45 days after the attacks that rocked our country. The vote in favor of the law was overwhelming and bi-partisan – 98 to 1 in the US Senate and 357 to 66 in the US House of Representatives. Yet, the bill was 342 pages long, and many members of Congress now say they did not even read it before voting in favor. Author Steven Brill (2003) asserts in his book, After: Rebuilding and Defending America in the September 12 Era, that the version of the USA PATRIOT Act voted on by Congress was not the bill that had been approved in committee
Seventeen years ago, the United States and her people weren’t officially in any war or conflicts. Very few citizens had even heard of Al-Qaeda or Osama Bin Laden, and ISIL was not even a blip on her radar. America’s involvement in middle eastern affairs and the War on Terror – a reaction to the 9/11 terror attacks – created a drastic change in our nation’s political and social landscape. The aftermath of the attacks forced America to reevaluate their ideas regarding, safety and privacy. After the attacks of September 11th, the laws and regulations that have since passed have drastically improved national security, although the reduction in privacy, effects on foreign relations, and the lasting consequences of the War on Terror have had negative
After September 11th, the government introduced the Patriot Act that changed the way the government surveillance Americans. The point of the Patriot Act is was to track activity of terrorist. As an American citizen, I agree that the Patriot Act is necessary to protect American citizens from terrorism, but it also can turn everyday Americans to a suspect because of speculations. Information sharing is a pro because it enhances information sharing within the FBI, and with the intelligence community at large. This can also be looked at as a con because sharing can create large databases of people who are not threats.
The US Patriot Act, passed in 2001 due to the events on September 11th, specifically Section 215 of the U.S. Patriot Act, allows the government to gather “foreign intelligence information” from anyone in the US (citizen or not) without a warrant. The government should not be allowed to obtain information from companies/people without going through the law, because it violates the Constitution, it takes unnecessary info, and fosters government control.
I am in favor of the patriot ACT. I know many people think, it is kind of violation of the privacy, but the patriot ACT make the U.S. a better place to live. There are countries, which try to do some damage to the U.S., and they will do anything to accomplish it. The patriot ACT made it easier for the law enforcement whenever they needed to arrest someone, whether is a drug dealer, a terror organization or someone who tries to make some damages through technology. These acts can have huge impact on the people and the society, law enforcement should act faster than the enemies in order to get them before they get what they want.
The first clear usage for the Patriot Act is that the world is still a dangerous place and that we need this form of protection to stop all types of terrorist attacks, including that of domestic ones. Less than a month ago, tragedy struck at a Florida High School when a former student took guns into the school and killed 17 people. As the days go
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).
The USA Patriot Act, which stands for Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001 was created after the events of 9/11 to help the government strengthen domestic security by expanding the power of government institutions to allow them the necessary tools to better track down threats to public safety. It gives them the authority to monitor citizen communications, collect bank statements and credit reports, and track suspicious internet activity. The Patriot Act should be supported as it is for the safety of the American public to help in the fight against terrorism. First and foremost, Patriot Act was created in the best interest of the safety of US citizens. Since the Patriot Act is controversial for
“The specific complaint was that this provision violated the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution that deals with the “right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures” and seeks to protect this right by “requiring] law enforcement officers to obtain warrants before making most searches. ”(Kubic, 9). Many believe that this new Act is violating the 4th amendment and by extension the Constitution but FBI officers must get a court issued warrant before they can do anything. “Instead, the new law – while not entirely Rube Goldbergian in complexity and confusion – set out a cumbersome and more time-consuming and expensive process to provide much the same results as had the relatively simple Section 215 of the previous act. There seems little doubt that the changes have made the job of identifying potential terrorists more difficult.
The police used the act to access internet evidence to locate the criminal. Ridge said in the article “The Patriot Act Enhances National Security”, that “By protecting our freedom, civil liberties are enhanced, not diminished”(Ridge). Using the tools to find the criminals is helping to keep the citizens’ liberties safe. Although to do this, the government needed more communication between each branch to complete each
How would you feel if someone you’re not familiar with tells you that he/she knows what you have been doing for the last 3 days?. NSA (National Security Agency) has been accused of spying the American citizens using the internet. When it comes to the topic of how the government should give all of us a little privacy on our own, we readily agree that there are many advantages and disadvantages about this controversial topic. Where this argument usually end, however, is on the question of “How has our government compromised on your rights in the name of security?”. Whereas convinced that we, people, feel uncomfortable being spied on, secretly.
