Pros And Cons Of The USA Patriot Act

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

Rather, the law could possibly be a well-coordinated and long-planned effort by some in the Justice Department to tilt the scales so far in favor of law enforcement and intelligence agencies that civil liberties of Americans may be sacrificed as a result. Only time will tell if this is the

I also lay out important realities of the law, including how it is being used, and examine whether the intrusions it imposes on American citizens are reasonable. I also discuss the backlash against the law. I conclude with a discussion on the likely future of the law and implications of the law for the criminal justice discipline. The main purpose of the paper is to thoroughly summarize and critically analyze the USA PATRIOT Act, for the benefit of those working in the discipline of criminal justice – who have, as of the current day largely ignored the law.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 and that had been endorsed by the American Civil Liberties Union