Patriot Act Pros And Cons

The attacks on the United States on September 11th, 2001 saw the largest loss of life of US civilians, in the US, from an outside enemy. As a result of the attacks, President Bush declared a “Global War on Terror.” To prevent another terror attack, Congress felt it must provide additional powers to US law enforcement and intelligence agencies. In 2001, Congress passed the United and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept or Obstruct Terrorism Acts of 2001, or colloquially referred to as the PATRIOT Act. While many will argue the PATRIOT Act is helpful in combating terrorism, critics argue it infringes on the 4th Amendment rights of US citizens. The PATRIOT Act significantly increased the powers of law
enforcement and intelligence agencies for search, seizure, surveillance and detention. The largest allowances in the powers regarding ‘search’ mostly came with the creation of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The Border Patrol, which now falls under DHS, was tripled in the wake of the 9/11 attacks. The Border Patrol also received increased funding, as well as increased legal parameters in its ability to search vehicles and persons crossing the US border. Additionally, the creation of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) created, and implemented, a standard of search for all passengers boarding commercial airlines. Regarding seizure and detainment, the PATRIOT Act created new legislation which deemed certain criminal acts as terrorism. This designation created new standards of conviction, as well as increased penalties. By far, surveillance was the bulk of the PATRIOT Act.
The PATRIOT Act increased the abilities of law enforcement and intelligence agencies mainly by deconstruction FISA. FISA, or the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978, created strict standards on foreign intelligence collection, as well as criminal investigations. One of the main criticisms of FISA is that it created an environment where US agencies were not cooperating, allowing Al Qaeda to successfully attack the US. Mainly, intelligence agencies, such as the NSA or CIA, would not share their foreign-gather intelligence with law enforcement, such as the FBI or Border Patrol. Conversely, evidence gathered on foreign nationals by the FBI was not shared with intelligence agencies, as it was deemed criminal evidence. The PATRIOT Act While the PATRIOT Act still respected a US citizen’s First Amendment rights, US citizens were deemed eligible for surveillance under a FISA warrant. Other big impacts of the PATRIOT Act allows the US to conduct roving wiretaps, so an individual can be monitored despite changing location or hardware. The PATRIOT Act also allows the federal government to gather a wide swath of information related to US citizens without a warrant, including things like library or phone
records. While the PATRIOT Act is aimed at defeating terrorists, many in the US accuse the PATRIOT Act of violating the US Constitution. Most notably, civil rights activists accuse the PATRIOT Act of violating the 4th Amendment, which provides protections against unreasonable search and seizure. Activists argue that US citizens are guaranteed a fair trial, and the lower requirements of the FISA warrants violate that right. Additionally, they argue that the government should not be allowed to gather mass data on US citizens without just cause, or a warrant. While some parts of the PATRIOT Act have been defeated in court, the vast majority stands, and is still in effect today. With the creation of the PATRIOT Act, law enforcement and intelligence have far greater powers than they had previously, however, sometimes freedoms are sacrificed in the name of security.