Pros And Cons Of The Patriot Act

The USA Patriot Act grants government agencies powers in terrorism investigations that it already uses in non-terrorist crimes. Several law abiding citizens have been approached, questioned, and interrogated without probable cause of any criminal activity, basically for engaging in political speech protected by the constitution (Bailie, 2012). The Act freely eliminates privacy rights for individual Americans, it creates more secrecy for government activities, which make it extremely difficult to know about actions the Government are taking.

In this essay I will discuss the pros and the cons of the Patriot Act, how it affected the lives of US citizens and the world, and whether or not it fits within our democratic form of government. The Patriot Act was a rapidly drafted and approved Act of Congress which was intended to increase the security of US citizens by combatting terrorism. Although granting increased security to an extent, the Act was and still is extremely controversial due to certain parts of the Act limiting the freedoms of American citizens. The Patriot Act enhanced the government’s ability to spy on their own people, and with far fewer restrictions, so many people were and still are disgusted, but many others completely agree with it. Millions of people, billions across the world have a historical trend of being happy to sacrifice their freedoms for increased security. The controversy lies with how more safe are you in comparison to how much of your freedom you have to give up, and that compromise is weighed vastly different for individuals across the world. Did the Patriot Act save enough lives to warrant what it cost, or did it inhibit the lives of too many people to be allowed to continue. The answer will always be disputed and weighing each side will be a very difficult task.

The Patriot Act was established after the tragedy of September, 11, 2001 in a moment of weakness. It gave unprecedented and unnecessary powers to intelligence agencies under the wide umbrella of national security. The Patriot Act has used an “us vs them” mentality as well as pro-American propaganda to accomplish its goals. This new authority of the intelligence agencies has gone too far, is unjustified, unconstitutional, and infringes on the privacy of the American people, as well as others in the world. The Patriot Act should be weakened in order to preserve the rights of the American people and to reaffirm to the world that the U.S will not tolerate violations of human rights.

In today's society, you are always being watched. The USA PATRIOT Act wants it to stay that way. According to Chris Plante in, "A Short, Crucial Explanation of the USA PATRIOT Act and USA Freedom Act," the USA PATRIOT Act, or the Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001, creates an, "[...] expansion of government power pertaining to domestic surveillance, law enforcement, and border security." (The Verge). The USA PATRIOT Act allows increased spying on citizens in the United States in order to decrease crime and terrorism. The Patriot Act Poll Results via ISideWith tell a story of a lack of understanding about the USA PATRIOT Act, however, with approximately 55% of Americans supporting the act. However, despite the belief it is a well-regulated, necessary act, the USA PATRIOT Act must be repealed due to the abuses the act allows, the violations of citizens' rights, and the inefficiency of the act in preventing crime and terrorism.

The PATRIOT ACT is an act of congress that was introduced on October 26, 2001. The USA Patriot Act was passed by Congress as a response to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. On October 23, 2001, Republican Rep introduced H.R. 3162 incorporating provisions from a previously sponsored House bill and a Senate bill also introduced earlier in the month. The bill, which removed most of the changes from the Senate version, passed Congress on March 2, 2006, and was signed into law by President George W. Bush on March 9 and 10, 2006. On May 26, 2011, President Barack Obama signed the PATRIOT Sunsets Extension Act of 2011, a four-year extension of three key provisions in the Act roving wiretaps, searches of business records, and conducting surveillance of "lone wolves"—individuals suspected of terrorist-related activities not linked to terrorist groups. Opponents of the law have criticized its authorization of indefinite detentions of immigrants; the permission given law enforcement officers to search a home or business without the owner's or the occupant's consent or knowledge; the expanded use of national security letters, which FBI to search telephone, e-mail, and financial records without a court order; and the expanded access of law enforcement agencies to business records, including library and financial records. The Act allows federal officials greater authority in tracking and intercepting communications, both for purposes of law enforcement and foreign intelligence gathering. It gives the Secretary of the Treasury regulatory powers to combat corruption of US financial institutions for foreign money laundering purposes; it more actively works to close our borders to foreign terrorists and to detain and remove those within our borders; it establishes new crimes, new penalties and new procedural techniques for use against domestic and international terrorists. Since its passage, several legal challenges have been brought against the act, and federal courts have ruled that a number of provisions are unconstitutional. The purpose of the USA PATRIOT Act is to deter and punish terrorist acts in the United States and around the world, to enhance law enforcement investigatory tools, and other purposes, some

This Act may be cited as the "Uniting and Strengthening America Act" by providing appropriate tools required to intercept and obstruct terrorism. President Bush signed the Patriot Act on October 29, 2001. It passed and with no debate voted on; many members of congress did not fully read the act. Due to the anthrax scare many Congressman did not have access to their offices. Attorney General John Ashcroft silenced any debate by warning that anyone who contested the Act would be "akin to a traitor abetting the terrorist."(Podesta, 2001) Congress had rejected many of the provisions previously debated. It was a recycled compilation of many extreme "wish lists." In the post 9/11 wake of fear, it became a reality.

The Patriot Act allowed the government to conduct searches that it had either previously been unable to conduct or that had been far more difficult. Included in the bill was the ability for the government to conduct secret searches, to collect data on individuals held by third parties as well as the new “roving wiretaps” and “lone wolf provision.” Section 213 allowed for secret searches, also called “sneak and peak” warrants which let government officials search a home or building without giving the subject prior notice, something that had long been required under common law. Critics of the law say that if a property owner is not present or aware of a search, they cannot point out inconsistencies with a warrant, leaving officers with unchecked

The Us Patriot Act is an act that was made in 2001 after the terriost attack on September Eleventh. The act is made of several laws that allow law enforcement to do certain procedures against terrorism that they were only allowed to do against organized crime. The police received new tools to better protect from terrorism, and can wire tape. In addition, different law enforcement can share information between departments called “connect the dots”. Finale, add new laws to obtain information of things bought that could be consider a part of the crime and new jail sentences. The Us Patriot Act is a bill that was pushed to better protect the citizens of the United States and is still expanding today.

Patriot act goes against the constitution and Peter Justice says that “Many of the Patriot Act's provisions violate the Constitution, particularly the First Amendment, which protects free speech, and the Fourth Amendment, which protects against unwarranted search and seizure.” Going against the first and fourth amendment violates the main rights given to us. The divine rights of men is clearly being taken away as a nation. This is unconstitutional because it no longer abides by these rules America has been going by for hundreds of years. It slowly reduces all restrictions of the government. America was created because people were oppressed by the British government and although the nation is not oppressed yet what can we do to stop them when the government wants to start oppressing the nation? ? The Act makes the law enforcement and immigration authorities in detaining and deporting immigrants suspected of terrorism-related acts larger broadening the jurisdictions. It also expands the definition of terrorism to include "domestic terrorism."”(PressTV) Which can be lead them to investigate any probable cause they think would be harmful. Representatives even say that “"It severs the very foundation of the Fourth Amendment to say that government can invade a person's privacy and gather information against them without having a sound basis for suspecting that they've done something wrong," said former Representative Bob Barr (R, Georgia), one of the Patriot Act's

The primary initiatives of the Patriot act is to prevent terrorism by effectively utilizing already available tools; improving the information sharing process; utilizing technology to identify terrorists; and by increasing the penalties to those who commit terrorist attacks, terrorist related crimes as well as those who conspire and help terrorists (Department of Justice, n.d.). Prior to the Patriot Act, many of the tools that already existed, that could also be useful to prevent a terrorist attack but were not being used to their full potential, and that have been used for many years by law enforcement officers and federal agents to combat other crimes such as drug trafficking or murder crimes, were too difficult to utilize to combat terrorism

The Patriot Act was passed by congress in 2001. It has helped our president find terrorism in our own homeland. In tragic events we will need this type of act to figure out who the victim is. I think this act should stay because it provides supstantial evidence for our government to solve particular cases, it will monitor terrorist act within our homeland, and it will protect people from predators.

After the attacks on September 11th of 2001, George W. Bush and his administration, along with Congress, agreed that national security needed more power within the executive branch. Our government leaders then rushed the legislative and review process and got the USA Patriot Act signed to law on October 26th of 2001 by President George W. Bush. The USA Patriot Act is an acronym that stands for Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism. It was passed to prevent future threats and acts of terrorism in the United States and to strengthen our national defense against terrorism. Since this act came into effect, lawmakers and citizens have heavily criticized it. The USA Patriot Act has been said to contradict civil liberties and be a violation of Constitutional rights, but its most controversial sections have continued to be extended

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

After researching and reading the different issues and topics I have learned more about why things have come to the way they are. But the one that really got me was the Patriot Act. Some say it is necessary and some say it is not worth it. The Patriot Act became a new law that was passed in secrecy six weeks after the 9/11 attacks. Some say they feel that the Act may bring a greater danger to America and also that we are all enemies of the state. Which that is one I do not agree with. The Act is composed of many laws that we already have and is designed to encounter terrorism in the U.S. But in some ways the Act proved to be a very necessary tool for the U.S to fight against terrorism and ensure public safety even at the expense of some of our privacy and rights. Either way to me it is all confusing. I personally think it is necessary but, at the same time I don’t. Basically this tells me for me to be safe I have to give up my rights and privacy

While it is impressive that the Patriot Act passed so quickly through congress, it is not all that surprising as in the wake of 9/11 the public was demanding legislative change that would prevent future terrorist attacks. Congress may have also been further motivated to pass legislation that would attempt to help prevent terrorism in the future due to the anthrax attacks in the weeks following the 9/11 attacks, two of which targeted Democratic Senators. It is also not uncommon for Congress to pass legislation in response to a major event, as the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 was passed in response to the Oklahoma City bombings, which addressed many concerns similar to those that the public and law enforcement agencies had in the wake of 9/11. In fact many of the policy implications included in