On May 7, 2015 the Federal Court of Appeals in New York ruled that the National Security Agency's collection of American phone records in bulk is illegal. Specifically, they ruled that the practice did not fall under the scope of the USA Patriot Act, which allows wire tapping of individuals to detect and prevent terrorism. What is the USA Patriot Act? The USA Patriot Act is a 10-letter acronym for uniting and strengthening America by providing appropriate tools required to intercept and obstruct terrorism act of 2001. It was passed by Congress following the terrorist attacks of September 11 and signed into law by George W. Bush in 2001. Later when it was set to expire in 2011 Barack Obama renewed the law for another 4 years. The Patriot Act…
After the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the United States adopted stringent measures to fight terrorism by passing new legislation and amending existing legislation. The U.S. Senate quickly passed the USA PATRIOT ACT, which mean Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism. The USA PATRIOT ACT was a new tool to fight terrorism head on. The USA PATRIOT ACT bill was signed by President George W. Bush on October 26, 2011. The USA PATRIOT ACT bill gives the court authorize to issue the search order for any United States citizen who law enforcement agency believes that maybe involved in terrorist activities. Some states, cities and towns within the United States did not agree with some of…
The Patriot Act detriments our political freedoms on behalf of national security and hurts the values that distinguish our nation. The act consolidates numerous fresh powers in the executive branch of government. The most vital feature of the Patriot Act is a new, in-depth meaning of terrorism. “Section 802 states that a person engages in domestic terrorism if they do any act dangerous to human life that is a violation of the criminal laws of a state or the United States, if that action appears to be intended to intimidate or coerce a civilian population, affect the conduct of a government by mass destruction, assassination, or kidnapping.””(The Patriot Act Helps Keep America Safe. 9 June 2005.)” The acts must take place above all within the national jurisdiction of the United…
The Alien and Sedition acts were passed by the Federalists in the United States congress in 1798, and they were signed into the law by President John Adams. The alien and sedition acts were four laws, one of which was called the Naturalization Act, another was the Alien Act, the two others were the Alien Enemies Act, and the Sedition Act. The four acts were passed in order to try controlling the activities of the foreigners in the United States during impending war.…
On September 11, 2001, four passenger planes were hijacked by sixteen members of the terrorist organization known as al-Qaeda. Two of the planes were sent to the World Trade Center in New York City, another was sent to the Pentagon in Washington D.C, while the final plane was forcibly brought down in fields outside of suburban Pennsylvania. These hijackings led to the loss of 2,980 lives, and the events of 9/11 would become the largest terrorist attack on United States soil. In the wake of these attacks, Congress quickly passed the USA PATRIOT Act, also known as the “Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism” Act. The Patriot Act, as it is more commonly referred to, was created with the goal of providing government agencies the tools to seek out and prosecute any terrorists planning an attack within the country. Unfortunately for the American people, Congress was indifferent to the fact that many provisions of the Patriot Act were a violation of the Constitution. The Patriot Act has granted government establishments the capability of…
The United States restricted civil liberties during and after the first World War by passing two acts; the Espionage Act of 1917 and the Sedition Act of 1918. The Espionage Act of 1917 was passed with the purpose to prohibit any interference with military operations (Links to an external site.) or recruitment (Links to an external site.), to prevent insubordination in the military, and to prevent the support of the United States enemies during wartime. Punishments under this law include jail and death.…
All remember the horrific happenings from September 2001. As everyone recalls the incident, they remember where they were sitting when the news came across the television and radio that the world trade center had been hit. The terrorist attacks sparked America to enter a war with Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan and their colleges in the Middle East. Along with the United States’ effort to put an end to terrorism over seas, there were non-violent efforts taking place to monitor possible terrorist attacks all over the world. President George W. Bush put the Patriot Act into effect on October 26, 2001.…
No, in any case it's a disturbing and terrible method for completing an awful and noxious act against pure individuals. One local may punch another, and not present a show of war. War is generally acknowledged to be a declared threats between two nations, as when the United States reported the war against the Axis powers Japan, Germany and Italy on December 8, 1941.…
The Sedition Act of 1918, was controversial and was developed for America’s best interest at the time. In my view point, the Sedition Act was needed to keep us safe in the United States. The Sedition act was imposed, to regulate and structure. During the 1900’s, the United States was struggling with a lot issues.…
"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."- Benjamin Franklin…
As an American, every citizen is entitled to the rights stated in the Constitution. The Constitution ensured citizens would have guaranteed freedoms which are protected by the government. Derived from John Locke and the Social Contract, Thomas Jefferson established the idea of popular sovereignty and constructed a government so all men are created equal. Therefore, as a nation, the source of all power is the people. Also, because the United States is a republic, the people may not run the government, but through elected representatives, they have the ability to control it.…
As the United States was just becoming involved in the First World War, fatal circumstances began to occur not only with other countries, but within the U.S. itself. When domestic and foreign spies began to appear inside the United States, law enforcements became much stricter, and new acts/laws began to develop. Of these laws and acts, two of the greatest were the Espionage and Sedition Acts. The Espionage Act was mainly to prevent U.S citizens attempting to harm the United States by spying and aiding other countries in the war, whereas the Sedition Act had labeled disloyalty, profane, and abusive language against the Constitution, the U.S. government, the American uniform, or the flag a federal offense. These two acts significantly impacted Eugene Debs, Edward Snowden, and Bradley Manning, because it limited their level of open opinion. Each man’s case related to either freedom of speech or the verbal abuse of the United States, both of which were prohibited under the Espionage and Sedition Acts. Although these two acts were created to protect the United States from great harm during World War I, they were unjust because they were severely violating the first amendment, or the freedom of speech.…
Sadly, you are right. Even sadder still is the fact that Brandon Mayfield is not the only one going through this injustice. In a report by Human Rights Watch and the American Civil Liberties Union in the year 2002, since the 9/11 attacks, at least 70 men have been detained due to terrorism-related suspicions. Except for one man, all of them are muslims. Most of them are held without charges, access to lawyers or the basis of their arrest. Even if they were released, they still have to wear tracking bracelets and their rights to privacy taken away.…
The Founding Fathers believed that the sanctity of individual rights must be held above all else, due to their prior experiences with the tyrannical rule of King George III of Great Britain. After the drafting and ratification of the Constitution, the United States government has introduced several laws and allowed several actions that compromise the liberties guaranteed by the Constitution in the supposed name of security or the general welfare. These laws include the Espionage Act which was introduced during World War I, and the use and allowance of ‘Stop and Frisk’ procedures amongst America’s various police agencies. The introduction and use of these laws and procedures were meant to keep the American public safe following outbreaks of war and to try and prevent weapon related violence, but they also compromise the liberties that are ensured to the…
If the Sedition Act was still in effect, people would no longer be able to publicize their opinions on government affairs if they don’t agree with them and if they did they would get punished which violates the freedom of petition. People would be afraid and no longer be able to petition the government to make changes and the voices of people would be silenced.…