National Security Agency Controversy

The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 was a necessary measure signed by President Jimmy Carter in an effort to stop the CIA, FBI, NSA, and other executive powers from conducting warrantless wiretaps of domestic groups for so-called national security purposes. This was necessary because findings by the Church Committee in the early 1970s suggested that warrantless wiretapping had been going on for quite some time by these government entities and was exacerbated by President Nixon and the Watergate scandal. This bill not only set a future precedent for how surveillance should be conducted, but also attempted to set a standard for what “good” and “bad” surveillance were defined as. FISA did not face any substantial challenges

NSA infringes on the 1st and 4th Amendment rights. America was the safe zone: a lot of people came to the United States so that they would have the freedom to express who they are, what they believe, and their thoughts without punishment. Edward Snowden, NSA whistle blower, wasn’t allowed that freedom when he made it know what the NSA was doing with Verizon’s phone records. Snowden did break the law but he brought awareness of this dilemma to the average citizen, villain, and hero. In the end, it caused the NSA to change some policies but it doesn’t even make a difference because still the administration continues to collect data without a cause. Correction: the NSA uses surveillance to protect United States of America from terrorist, terrorism and terrorism related crimes… The agency’s interpretation: anyone and anything under the sun.

As the late Frank Herbert once said, “Once, men turned their thinking over to machines in the hope that this would set them free. But that only permitted other men with machines to enslave them.” Federal electronic wiretapping and supervision dates to the Wiretap Act of 1968, and has only increased in the following decades. Organizations such as the National Security Agency have been empowered by FISA (United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Courts) to bypass the authority of the Supreme Court in determining constitutional validity on searches. Government Surveillance is unjustified because it infringes upon personal freedoms, does not guarantee safety, and is not a vital necessity.

Unreasonable, warrantless searches and seizures should not take place because it violates the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, by not being justified by law. The NSA goes to the FISA court to get the kind of warrant needed for going through metadata, if the warrant is issued, then the NSA may go through the metadata. When the NSA goes to the FISA court, it means that the surveillance requires judicial oversight. Also, If the “intelligence committee” wants to listen to a phone call, then they have to take special measures such as a federal judge. The intelligence committee may not just listen to a phone call, all that the intelligence committee can do without taking special measures is look at the length of a phone call. Warrantless

The past several years have seen a proliferation of legislation directed at controlling criminal activities through the increased application of new laws. The effectiveness of these new laws, remains in question due not only to their relative infancy but also due to a uniform determinism of what constitutes effectiveness. The purpose of this paper will be to review the Fourth amendment particularly relating to NSA, FISA, Title III and the PATRIOT Act.

“After years of denial, much of which likely constituted perjury, officials of the National Security Agency (NSA) admitted to having conducted unwarranted surveillance of Americans, a violation of the protections against such searches provided by the Fourth Amendment.” "NSA Admits Directly Targeting Americans for Warrantless Surveillance." NSA Admits Directly Targeting Americans for Warrantless Surveillance. Web. 8 Apr. 2015. The NSA abuses their power by going to the extreme and spying on innocent citizens warrantless. It isn’t fair to the society. The NSA shouldn’t be able to view anyone’s personal information without a warrant. With or without a warrant, The NSA should still have certain rules that will create boundaries. President Obama and the National Security Chief stated that they do not monitor the communications of

Up until this point, the U.S. Supreme Court had ruled that the Fourth Amendment’s protection against unreasonable searches and seizures, applied to surveillance for domestic threats (Surveillance). However, this act now “stipulated that government officials have the authority to ‘intercept wire, oral, and electronic communications relating to terrorism, computer fraud, abuse offenses’” (Ambrose and Brinkley, 498). For the first time the “CIA could spy on American citizens within the U.S. borders” (Ambrose and Brinkley, 498), and for the first time, Americans were forced to trade their liberty for some sense of

After the terrorist attacks of September 11th 2001, an American public was shocked, flabbergasted, and lost for words for the first time since Pearl Harbor. Out of these fears the PATRIOT act was conceived; promising to help stop future terrorist plots the bill was initially met with high praise from the public and media. It was not for another decade that the side-effects of the patriot act were revealed to the world. The American public was appalled at the circumvention of their fourth Amendment rights. Still there is a clear divide between those who believe that the National Security Agency Is not violating the constitution and what they are doing is good for the betterment of the country and those who believe that their privacy and undeniable American freedoms were violated in part of the NSA spying with both parties bringing their own views and ideals to the field. The September eleventh attacks were the beginning of the end of privacy for American citizens the PATRIOT act which was signed a month later granted full access to the phones and computers of the people. It took over a decade for the public to become aware of the illegal spying that the NSA had conducted. The NSA spying is a complicated and controversial matter while there have been several judicial courts that have ruled against the spying there has also been just as many cases of the court 's finding the spying constitutional.

All this power allows agencies like the FBI to wiretap cell phones, look at medical records, see internet search histories, as well as "any tangible thing. " Many critics argue that the collection of all this information can be done secretly and with very little oversight. The Patriot acts also allows for the detention of any persons even non U.S citizens without probable

Have you ever had a suspicion of someone and wanted to know if it’s true? That is exactly what the government thinks and finds out. They collect info on potential people they suspect are terrorists or are related to any terrorist activities. The official Patriot Act was passed after the September 11th, 2001 terror attacks. The Patriot Act is actually an acronym for “Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism”. This federal act allows the investigators to use the same tools used for organized crime and drug trafficking, now in the fight against terrorism. “Why is it that the federal government could have wiretapped a potential mafia member’s phone, but not someone who could be involved in a terrorist group”. (-Senator Joe Biden). While the PATRIOT Act, and government surveillance in general, may be a controversial part of the legislation, the benefits it provides for the security of the United States makes it necessary in a world where terrorism has become commonplace.

The Patriot Act is a clear infringement of the right of people to not be searched and seized. Roving Wiretaps, Section 206, allows the government to acquire a warrant to tap any phone or computer of someone who is suspected to be a terrorist. Critics noted, however, that if the suspect comes into casual contact with someone who is innocent in terms of the acts, the privacy of the latter could be trespassed upon. This is a violation of the Fourth Amendment; the security and privacy of someone who is innocent would be infringed upon. Foreign Intelligence Wiretaps and Searches is a provision similar to that of the Roving Wiretap but for those who are suspected as foreign spies. Critics claimed that international spying and terrorism is too easily given as an excuse and has led to an excess of intelligence taps compared to the criminal taps. “Sneak and Peak” Warrants also comes in violation of the Fourth Amendment because the provision allows the FBI to search and investigate any home or business without prior warning to that of whom they would search and intrude upon, a clear violation of unreasonable search and seizure.

Despite the Fourth Amendment being created to protect the privacy of the American people, the NSA and other government agencies have put that to the test by using legislation such as the Patriot Act to data mine Americans, keep records on individuals, and create a tension between the American people and the Government, although it has helped the war on

Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (FISA) is a law granted by the United States which defined procedures for the physical and electronic surveillance that was deemed in the best interest of national security. This gave congress the ability to oversee foreign intelligence surveillance while maintaining secrecy in conducting surveillance of national security threats. The Patriot Act enhanced the FISA capability to conduct wiretap surveillance without warrants. According to Matthew A. Anzaldi and Jonathan W. Gannon (2010), FISA "provides the legal framework through which the Intelligence Community lawfully collects intonation about those who pose national security threats to our country” (p.1690). The right of privacy that’s protected

Ever since the American public was made aware of the United States government’s surveillance policies, it has been a hotly debated issue across the nation. In 2013, it was revealed that the NSA had, for some time, been collecting data on American citizens, in terms of everything from their Internet history to their phone records. When the story broke, it was a huge talking point, not only across the country, but also throughout the world. The man who introduced Americans to this idea was Edward Snowden.

Technology has become very effective for a thriving generation, but it also possesses a handful of flaws that counter the benefits. Technologies help people post and deliver a message in a matter of seconds in order to get a message spread quickly. It also gives individuals the power to be the person they want to be by only showing one side of themselves. But sometimes information that had intentions of remaining protected gets out. That information is now open for all human eyes to see. This information, quite frankly, becomes everybody’s information and can be bought and sold without the individual being aware of it at all. However, this is no accident. Americans in the post 9/11 era have grown accustomed to being monitored. Government entities such as the NSA and laws such as the Patriot Act have received power to do so in order to protect security of Americans. However, the founding fathers wrote the fourth amendment to protect against violations of individual’s privacy without reason. In a rapidly growing technological world, civil liberties are increasingly being violated by privacy wiretapping from government entities such as the NSA, Patriot Act and the reduction of the Fourth Amendment.