The Pros And Cons Of The Patriot Act

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September 11, 2001, was the deadliest terrorist attack in United States history. The attackers were members of the Islamist terrorist group, al-Qaeda, who believed that the United States oppressed Muslims throughout the world. Nearly 3,000 people died and 6,000 people were injured in the attacks in New York, Washington D.C., and Pennsylvania (Corbett, 2014). After September 11th, the American people were united in fighting terrorism and terrorist threats. Many new stricter laws and regulations were put in place to increase national security and change foreign policy (9/11 and Its Aftermath, 2023). Although the laws and regulations that resulted from the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks benefited national security, they also raised many …show more content…

Section 505 of the Patriot Act allows the attorney general to order the personal information of an individual to be turned over to government agencies. This can be anything from e-mails, financial statements, personal records, and telephone records. Before the Patriot Act there had to be “reasonable suspicion” before a subpoena was issued, but after the Patriot Act the attorney general can acquire anyone’s personal records without judicial oversight (Torr, 2004). Another controversial section of the Patriot Act is Section 203, which allows the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and other government agencies to more easily share information acquired in intelligence investigations. Although this information should not be used in a criminal case, civil activists object to Section 203 because there is no judicial supervision of how personal information is distributed (Torr, 2004). Another controversial part of the Patriot Act is how the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) is now allowed to use surveillance and searches for criminal