Executive Summary: The USA Patriot Act
Laila Dahdal
Jus 104
08/28/2014
David Hayes
Patriot Act
“The Patriot Act (the full name is the USA Patriot Act, or Uniting and Strengthening America Act by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001" (Bush2001) was put in place by the U.S. Congress in response to September 11. The Patriot Act was put into action on October 26, 2001, at the request of President George Bush. The Justice Department now has abilities in terms of domestic as well as international tailing of not only American citizens but anyone within its jurisdiction due to the act. The Patriot Act, allows a wide range of new powers to law enforcement and intelligence gathering authorities. “The Constitution defines the underlying …show more content…
law of the United States federal government, setting forth the three principal branches of the federal government, outlining their jurisdictions, and propounding the basic rights of U.S. citizens.” “It has become the landmark legal document of the Western world, and is the oldest written national constitution currently in effect.” (2008,08). The Patriot Act Abuses Civil Liberties. The primary basis of the patriot act is that the government must be restricted to the rule of law. Since 1789, there have been twenty-seven amendments added to the Constitution. The Bill of Rights which are the first ten amendments were adopted as a unit in 1791. The Patriot Act hurried through Congress after the 9/11 attacks, it has been praised as a mandatory instrument to prevent more terrorist attacks. Unchecked Snooping is more like what it allows. Not a single person can question that the federal government needed to respond to the 9/11 attacks, this type of law making presents a threat to our God-given freedoms that are suppose to be protected by the U.S.
Constitution. A good example would be, this act allows law enforcement agencies to secretly examine homes and business records. The act allows wiretapping and surveillance power, and it makes a new mechanism for attaining legal search warrants and partaking in electronic snooping of email, telephone calls, and internet messaging. The Patriot Act, ordered people to hand over business records and are not allowed communicate with an attorney or pursue protection from the courts. The requirements are not clearly stated, giving practically complete freedom to federal officials to use the act and then have confidence that the courts will support the validity of what was …show more content…
done. There are numerous provisions which don’t pose any controversy, but the Patriot Act still stands out because of the ones that are.
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
States.
Although the Patriot Act is good in theory, the provisions set especially after 9/11 violates our constitutional rights. The speedy way it was put into action left so much not reviewed. There is no sensible reason this would have been passed. Everything the Patriot Act is meant for could have been done without violating our constitutional rights and needs to be revised. The government needed to take action to protect American citizens from what was happening. At the same time this could be done without violating constitutional rights. Our rights have been taken away without reviewing the act as in-depth as one should before approving the act and violating so many.
References
(2008, 08). The Patriot Act Abuses Civil Liberties
Cate, Fred H. Privacy in the Information Age. Washington, D.C.:
Brookings Institution, 1997.
Solove, Daniel J. Nothing to Hide the False Tradeoff between Privacy and Security. New Anschuetz 11
Stevens, Gina Marie, and Charles Doyle. Privacy: Wiretapping and Electronic
Eavesdropping. New York: Novinka, 2002.
United States of America. Department of Justice. Report From the Field: USA Patriot Act at Work. July 2004. Web. 7 Nov. 2011.
United States of America. Office of the Press Secretary. Fact Sheet: The Patriot Act Helps Keep America Safe. 9 June 2005.
Jus 104
08/28/2014
David Hayes
Patriot Act
“The Patriot Act (the full name is the USA Patriot Act, or Uniting and Strengthening America Act by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001" (Bush2001) was put in place by the U.S. Congress in response to September 11. The Patriot Act was put into action on October 26, 2001, at the request of President George Bush. The Justice Department now has abilities in terms of domestic as well as international tailing of not only American citizens but anyone within its jurisdiction due to the act. The Patriot Act, allows a wide range of new powers to law enforcement and intelligence gathering authorities. “The Constitution defines the underlying …show more content…
law of the United States federal government, setting forth the three principal branches of the federal government, outlining their jurisdictions, and propounding the basic rights of U.S. citizens.” “It has become the landmark legal document of the Western world, and is the oldest written national constitution currently in effect.” (2008,08). The Patriot Act Abuses Civil Liberties. The primary basis of the patriot act is that the government must be restricted to the rule of law. Since 1789, there have been twenty-seven amendments added to the Constitution. The Bill of Rights which are the first ten amendments were adopted as a unit in 1791. The Patriot Act hurried through Congress after the 9/11 attacks, it has been praised as a mandatory instrument to prevent more terrorist attacks. Unchecked Snooping is more like what it allows. Not a single person can question that the federal government needed to respond to the 9/11 attacks, this type of law making presents a threat to our God-given freedoms that are suppose to be protected by the U.S.
Constitution. A good example would be, this act allows law enforcement agencies to secretly examine homes and business records. The act allows wiretapping and surveillance power, and it makes a new mechanism for attaining legal search warrants and partaking in electronic snooping of email, telephone calls, and internet messaging. The Patriot Act, ordered people to hand over business records and are not allowed communicate with an attorney or pursue protection from the courts. The requirements are not clearly stated, giving practically complete freedom to federal officials to use the act and then have confidence that the courts will support the validity of what was …show more content…
done. There are numerous provisions which don’t pose any controversy, but the Patriot Act still stands out because of the ones that are.
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
States.
Although the Patriot Act is good in theory, the provisions set especially after 9/11 violates our constitutional rights. The speedy way it was put into action left so much not reviewed. There is no sensible reason this would have been passed. Everything the Patriot Act is meant for could have been done without violating our constitutional rights and needs to be revised. The government needed to take action to protect American citizens from what was happening. At the same time this could be done without violating constitutional rights. Our rights have been taken away without reviewing the act as in-depth as one should before approving the act and violating so many.
References
(2008, 08). The Patriot Act Abuses Civil Liberties
Cate, Fred H. Privacy in the Information Age. Washington, D.C.:
Brookings Institution, 1997.
Solove, Daniel J. Nothing to Hide the False Tradeoff between Privacy and Security. New Anschuetz 11
Stevens, Gina Marie, and Charles Doyle. Privacy: Wiretapping and Electronic
Eavesdropping. New York: Novinka, 2002.
United States of America. Department of Justice. Report From the Field: USA Patriot Act at Work. July 2004. Web. 7 Nov. 2011.
United States of America. Office of the Press Secretary. Fact Sheet: The Patriot Act Helps Keep America Safe. 9 June 2005.