Patriot Act Pros And Cons

The Patriot Act, an act passed by Congress in 2001 that addressed the topic of privacy in terrorist or radical situations, is controversial in today's society. Although it helps with protection against terroristic events, The Patriot Act is not fair, nor is it constitutional, because it allows the government to intrude on citizens' privacy, it gives governmental individuals too much power, and because the act is invasive to the 4th amendment right. To further describe key points in the act, it states that it allows investigators to use the tools that were already available to investigate organized crime and drug trafficking, and it allows law enforcement officials to obtain a search warrant anywhere a terrorist-related activity occurred.

After the 9/11 attacks, the U.S passed a variation of the elastic clause called the Patriot Act, which allows the U.S to do whatever is necessary for the protection of the U.S from terrorists. Some of these actions include seizing the homes of Muslims citizens and spying on suspicious U.S citizens who may be connected to terrorist groups. Even though controversy has arisen about whether or not this is constitutional, the United States used the elastic clause to defend the patriot act. By doing this the federal government claims that they are allowed to go beyond the law in times of crisis in order to do things that are necessary for national security. Although the federal government argues that they have the right to violate multiple amendments through the Elastic Clause and Patriot Act, using the privilege to obstruct and abuse the assumed powers of the constitution has an extremely negative effect on the structure of democracy in the nation, proving that using these clauses to seize the homes of “suspicious” Muslim citizens only affects the nation negatively in the long term.

After the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center on September 11th, 2001 the United States became a very different place. This drastic change was caused by the initial emotional reactions that American citizens, as well as government leaders had towards the tragic event. The government, in an effort to assure that these events never happen again passed the USA PATRIOT Act, which is an acronym that stands for the Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act. The major goal of this act is to combat terrorism by giving the government more leeway in what areas they are allowed to use their surveillance tools and also to what circumstances these tools can be used. The major issue that arise with this act are the fact that many of the act can be seen as unconstitutional.

Several weeks after the horrible terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, The Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism (USA PATRIOT ACT) Act was rushed through Congress by Attorney General, John Ashcroft. This particular Act, however, was established with a ruling hand of fear. Life for Americans changed dramatically in those immediate days, weeks, and months after the attack. America had been spoiled with luxury for so long, that the illusion of control had ingrained itself into our very nature as Americans. That act of terror, on September 11, 2001, brought that belief crashing down, almost immediately. Fear and anger were rampant though out America; a dangerous

     In the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks US Congress passed legislation known as the Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001 commonly known as the USA Patriot Act. This paper will attempt to prove that not only is the USA Patriot Act unconstitutional but many of its provisions do nothing at all to protect Americans from the dangers of terrorism.

On September 11, 2001 our nation suffered catastrophic terrorist attacks upon the Twin Towers and the Pentagon, located in New York. These unfortunate attacks resulted in the death of 2,996 people and injured more than 6,000 others. Several weeks passed before the House developed and proposed the Patriot Act in which was immediately signed into law. Additionally, the term U.S.A. P.A.T.R.I.O.T. stands for Uniting and strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001. Although the Patriot Act was created within pure intentions of security and safety to prevent future terrorist attacks, it eventually violated our nation’s democratic beliefs and principles.

To reiterate, after the passage of the Act, numerous academics and legal specialists have attempted to substantiate whether or not the Act should remain in effect today. Essentially, the arguments addressed can be categorized into two predominant schools of thoughts. One on hand, as a I had briefly mentioned, some scholars believe that the Patriot Act ought to be excluded from the U.S. domestic set of security regulations, because it allows the government to disregard the basic rights of citizens and noncitizens that are secured by the U.S. Bill of Rights somewhat without a probable cause. Further, it legalizes a series of other unconstitutional provisions that could possibly lead the U.S. to a dictatorship. The other side of the debate defends

It is better to have civil liberties and a right to privacy than for the government to do whatever they deem necessary to prevent another terrorist attack. First off, the legality of the Patriot act is questionable, several articles had tried to nullify preexisting laws. Before law enforcement can fully begin investigating people or places, they must acquire a search warrant. This law is from Amendment 4 in the Bill of Rights and helps protect citizens from any unjustified searches; however, acquiring a search warrant takes time and is the reason why the Patriot Act tries to get away with working around it. An instance of this occurred in 2002, when George Bush authorized the NSA to monitor phone calls and e-mails of thousands of Americans,

First, this violates our 4th amendment right, but I am not diametrically opposed to the intention of the patriot act. However, what I am opposed to the way in which the act is executed and the contributing factors that allowed the terrorist attack. It needs revision to suit its situation, were the act was derived from. The problem originally was that crazy Muslim extremist drove a plane into a building, thus killing a multitude of people. Which obviously set off an alarm to the government and our people and it lead us to rethink about how we handle terrorism. We shouldn’t so be quick to pull the

After the devastating attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001, this country scrambled to take action to provide future protection. New techniques had to be developed to protect the nation from the menace of terrorism. Along with the new techniques came the decision to enact laws that some believed crossed the threshold of violating civil liberties this county and those living in it were guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States. “On October 26, 2001, the Public Law 107-56, Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism, also known as the USA Patriot Act, was signed into effect” (Stern, 2004, p. 1112). While speaking to Congress,

September 11, 2001 was the day where everything in America had changed. A series of four terrorist attacks destroyed the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. As a reaction to this, Congress passed the Patriot Act, severely limiting citizen’s civil liberties as promised by the Constitution. American’s civil liberties and constitutional rights cannot be denied and/or put into jeopardy to protect national security, for it goes against American ideals and may persecute non-partisan individuals, while allowing the executive branch to unconstitutionally abuse their power.

The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 devastated the United States people. As they mourned over the deaths caused by the destruction of the World Trade Center in New York City, Americans began looking for a way to prevent anything like this from happening again. Consequently, an act known as the USA PATRIOT act was passed by Congress. This act opened up many doors previously closed to law enforcement and intelligence agencies. With these new opportunities available to them, they have the capability to obtain information about specific individuals believed to be involved in terrorist activities and organizations. Very beneficial to the United States, the Patriot Act provides easier access for different government law enforcement agencies to share information, allows government agencies investigative tools that non-terrorist crimes already use, and helps to dismantle the terrorist financial network. Although many people claim that the Patriot Act violates the United States Constitution and the freedoms of the American people, it contains many elaborate safeguards to fight against such abuse.

The Patriot Act was signed into law on October 26, 2001 by President George W. Bush. The act expanded the surveillance capability of both domestic law enforcement and international intelligence agencies. When this law was passed it was under the assumption “to deter and punish terrorist acts in the United States and around the world, to enhance law enforcement investigatory tools, and for other purposes” (The USA Patriot). The Patriot Act has given the government the power to spy on the average American through monitoring phone records and calls, gaining banking and credit information, and even track a person’s internet activity. This is an unbelievable amount of power intelligence agencies wield all under the umbrella of national security. This power has gone too far, is unjustified, unconstitutional, and infringes on the privacy of the

Public Law 107-56 otherwise known as the USA PATRIOT Act was signed into law by President George W. Bush on October 26, 2001. USA PATRIOT Act is an acronym which stands for Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act. (justice.gov) This law was instated in response to the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. The Islamic terrorist group known as Al-Qaeda, coordinated four different plane hijackings killing 2,996 people, and injuring 6,000+ others. (9/11 memorial.org) Just weeks after the attacks congress rushed to pass this bill, passing the senate 98 to 1, and the house 357 to 66 (justice.gov), so that we can have more security controls within the United States. It gives the United States government the same powers and tools used to investigate organized crime and drug trafficking in decades prior, to investigate current suspected terrorist. The Patriot act has several different titles that cover different grounds, all which have the same purpose of preventing future acts of terrorism. The patriot act allows the government to track and intercept any form of electronic communications of suspected terrorist in order to prevent any acts of terror, and also for intelligence gathering. The act also aids the government in securing borders, and removing those that are here with the intent to cause harm.

The Homeland Security Act of 2002 impacted the American people without many of them realizing it. The act called for increased monitoring of computer networks, phone lines, and online history inside the United States and allowed the government to deport suspects (ACLU). What was created by the act has snaked its way into all aspects of our lives, creating a sense of order and restricting some freedom. However, some say that this imposition into our daily lives limits our freedoms and actions allowed us by the Constitution. Many interest groups voice strong resentment for the act while others try to demonstrate the strengths and triumphs of the Homeland Security Act. This paper will show the differing viewpoints of those that feel that the