4th Amendment

Courts generally have held the law to be constitutional on its face as an appropriate exercise of authority to protect national security, though historically it has been subject to abuse if applied broadly to otherwise protected activities, such as the right to free speech, rendering it a particularly dangerous tool by which government authorities may silence speech that they consider to be contrary to government interests. Parts of the Patriot Act explicitly allow determinations to be made based on an individual's beliefs or speech. The Patriot Act threatens exclusion not only to those who provide direct support to such organizations as Antifa, but also to those who provide encouragement. This activity could have a devastating effect on the
The Supreme Court has held that a search or seizure of a dwelling may be constitutionally defective if police officers enter without prior notice. The Amendment allows the subject of the warrant an opportunity to challenge the lawful authority of the warrant or to prevent its defective execution, such as when the wrong address is targeted or the subject no longer resides at the address. Section 213 of the Patriot Act permits federal law enforcement officials to delay giving notice of the execution of a search warrant to the subject of the warrant, even until after it has been executed, if notification may have an adverse result. This section amends the catchall provision adding a new subsection which provides that the requisite notice of the issuance of any warrant may be delayed if the court has reasonable cause to believe that the immediate notification of execution of the warrant will have an adverse effect. The warrant need only provide for giving notice within a reasonable period of its execution, and the period may be extended for good
Section 218 of the Patriot Act amends FISA to provide that foreign intelligence need not be the purpose of investigations seeking orders under the Act, but merely a significant purpose. The amendment applies both to FISA electronic surveillance warrants and FISA warrants for physical searches of property. This greatly expands the power of federal authorities to apply the relatively loose standards of FISA to investigations of both U.S. citizens and residents that only peripherally touch on national