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Patriot Act's restriction of civil liberties
Patriot Act's restriction of civil liberties
Relevance of patriot act in todays world
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Introduction Signed into law on 26 October 2001, the US Patriot Act was meant to strengthen security controls and provide Americans with an opportunity to act in the defense of their freedom. Caused by the September 11 terrorist attacks, this rule was intended to help Americans protect themselves from future similar strikes. However, since its enactment 16 years ago, this legislation has provided a veil with which impunity and civil rights violators can hide behind as they perpetrate crime in the name of national security. The act augmented safety and intelligence agencies' powers to acquire confidential information.
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.
One group that argues this is the American Civil Liberties Union, which strongly disagrees with the Patriot Act. They have stated that investigations into the Patriot Act, “reveal thousands of violations of law,” (ACLU), while this is simply not true. One controversial piece of the Patriot Act are roving wiretaps. These allow government investigators to follow and put surveillance on certain people, rather than certain devices, so that they may save time and effort. According to Nathan Sales, a law professor at George Mason University, “Federal courts agree that Title III’s roving wiretaps authority is constitutional and… provides strong support for constitutionality,” (Sales).
This means government agencies, like the NSA, don't need to have probable cause that's required to get a warrant. (CITATIONS)This is similar to 1984 because everyone is getting surveillanced without cause or permission. Many people will be saying that this is an ill comparison and that the patriot act isn’t akin to 1984 in this way, but if you think about it the patriot act is worse. The inner party tracks their citizens through the telescreen. Telescreens aren't perfect though.
The U.S. PATRIOT Act was passed on October 26, 2011. This act gives extensive powers to “federal investigators to track down suspected terrorists and spoil any future terrorist attacks in the United States” (Uddin, 2014). While there are both opponents and supporters of this act, it mainly seems to cause controversy as news stories chronicle the latest pros and mostly cons regarding the topic. When first passed, supporters said that the provisions would enhance information sharing. Detractors, however, said that “unrestricted sharing could lead to the development of databases about citizens who are not targets of criminal investigations” (Abramson & Godoy, 2005).
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.
The truth is, the USA Patriot Act was established “in response to the September 11th attacks” and “was to provide federal law enforcement with better means to defend against terrorism (Orthmann & Hess, 2013). Through additional research I was able to gain a better understanding of the USA Patriot Act. An article titled, How the Patriot Act Works, by Ed Grabianowski, informed me that the USA Patriot Act is in fact quite thorough, as it possesses ten parts to the Act. Each part addresses a different topic, for instance Title III addresses cutting off the financial support of the terrorist groups and exactly what that would entail.
The Patriot Act is unsafe, unconstitutional and should be banned from the United States of America. According to source, three president Bush created the Patriot Act in 2001. He signed off on the act after the tragedy of nine eleven to try and monitor terrorists in the United States. Although the act was created to try and keep the country safe, it also has caused several set backs. There are sources that oppose and support the Patriot Act; moreover, the act violates the individual privacy of citizens, can falsely charge innocent people, but can stop terrorism.
According to the Department of Justice, 2015, The USA Patriot Act, before the Patriot Act courts could permit law enforcement to conduct electronic surveillance to investigate many non- terrorism crimes such as passport fraud, mail fraud and drug crimes but after the act was passed it enabled investigators to gather information when looking into full range terrorist related crimes. The act also allows law enforcement to conduct investigations without tipping off terrorists in which if they are they could flee, destroy evidence, intimate or kill witnesses or take on another action to evade arrest. Therefore, federal courts allowed law enforcement to delay for a limited time when the subject is told that a judicially permitted search warrant has been executed but with this delay it gives law enforcement time to identify criminal associates, eliminate threats and synchronize the arrests of multiple individuals without having them knowing or have an idea the action will take place. The Patriot Act updated the law to reflect new technologies and new threats, it allows victims of computer hacking to demand law enforcement assistance in monitoring trespassers on their computers. Likewise, the act allows law enforcement to obtain a search warrant anywhere a terrorist related activity has occurred and before the act often terrorism investigations had a number of districts making police need to obtain multiple warrants in numerous jurisdictions creating avoidable delays in the investigation.
According to the Department of Justice, in their Patriot Act section, this act allows investigators to use the tools that were already available to investigate organized crime and drug trafficking. This allows law enforcement to use surveillance against crime, and allows law enforcement to investigate without terrorists fleeing, or destroying evidence. This act also created better information sharing among government agencies so that they can communicate more efficiently in order to uncover terrorist plots before they are completed. It has succeeded in its intention to share information within the FBI and local law enforcement. One of the greatest things that this act enabled was that it allowed the law to be updated in order to reflect new technologies.
Many Americans have no problem questioning their government and it laws everyday but what would you think if you knew that the government can see everything you do? In the short story by Mike Kubic, he states that many Americans are questioning the Patriot Act and what it is used for. Most people want their privacy and the Act can be invasive at times but only if the government suspects suspicious behavior. In the short article, “The PATRIOT Act: Protection over Privacy”, by Mike Kubic correctly argues why the PATRIOT Act should not be repealed by explaining everything the FBI has to go through to get the information, what information the government actually can access, and how many citizens feel about the Act.
The government is invading our privacy for the reason of preventing terrorist attacks, yet studies have shown that not a single terrorist attack was prevented thorugh this Patriot Act. For instance, "There were 143,074 national security letters were issued and 0 of them were for terrorism" (Source 5). Clearly based on the evidence collected over a span of 2 years, there is no impact being made by the Patriot Act. This Patriot Act provides little to no evidence as to why it should still be in effect, so this act should be revoked
Some say that is violates the first amendment which is the freedom of speech, this means that Patriot Act is unconstitutional and should be taken away. While others say that this is a system that actually works to find people with the intentions of terrorism. It is hard to determine a solid answer to the question many ask, is it actually a effective way to find terrorists? Whether the government is telling the truth on whether or not they are using the Patriot Act solely for the use of finding terrorists or if they are using it for other things that
The Patriot Act allows for government investigators to share information on suspected terrorists with other branches of the government much easier than before 9/11 so that tragedy’s like this can be avoided in the future. While intense backlash has been received regarding the Patriot Act’s effects on immigration, and unlawful surveillance, the small negatives that have yet to been proven true much outweigh the good this law can do in protecting the lives of innocent Americans. With the Patriot Act countless lives have been saved without the masses without even realizing they have been saved. According to a speech given by President Bush three years after he signed the law into place, with the Patriot Act a one man terrorist plan turned into
I understand like most people, we do truly live in a dangerous world, one of unpredictability and one where the United States is hated by many others. We are constantly threatened and it is the job of the government to keep its citizens safe, but the PATRIOT ACT violates our right to privacy and our Fourth Amendment Right to “be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures.” I believe the what the PATRIOT ACT allows the NSA to do violates that very right, because it is unreasonable to look through everyone’s emails and search
