The Importance Of The Patriot Act

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.

When an incident occurs the government and public react in various has changed the mind set of many Americans. Terrorism on the rise around the world made government officials to take proper precautions and changes in protocol. Our nation attempted to prepare for the worse scenarios. Events of 9/11 shocked most citizens and government officials. In response President Bush signed the Patriot Act, however since provisions expired later President Obama had to reactivate the Patriot Act. Most citizens were unaware of reaction from our government. The Patriot Act impacted of America, the Director of National Intelligence, and the agencies that report directly towards the DNI.

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.

Since the founding of the United States of America, freedom has been the basis of the governmental and ruling systems in place. Individual freedoms are protected in both the Bill of Rights and the rest of the Constitution, and Schwartz (2009) explains that ‘public liberty ultimately enhances collective rationality—it is a path to heightening our wisdom by increasing access to pertinent information and improving decision making’ (p. 409). However, there have been many times in history when the true freedom of citizens is called into question. There has always been controversy about how much power the government should have, who is keeping the government in check, and if citizens are properly informed about what their elected governed are doing. The passing of the Patriot Act in 2001 was no exception to this controversy. The

     The United States of America is a country that is based upon a principle of balancing the rights of an individual, while still preserving public order. The U.S. Constitution (specifically the Bill of Rights) guarantees every American certain Individual rights. Some of these rights include; freedom from unreasonable search and seizures, a right to due process of law, and protection against cruel and unusual punishment (The 4th, 5th and 8th Amendments). Historically the criminal justice system has preserved these rights of peopled accused of crimes. However on September 11, 2001, the United States became the victim of the largest terrorist attack the World has ever seen. According to Schmalleger in 2003, that

The primary concern of this paper is to establish the impact of the USA Patriot Act on local law enforcement and its potential for net widening. This paper will cover three primary areas to provide a proper public safety case analysis. First the paper will describe the public safety agency and its roles in relation to the USA PATRIOT ACT. Then the paper will provide a detail explanation of the leadership, management, and administration roles of the public safety agency chosen. Finally this paper will cover the importance of efficient administration in public safety.

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.

The United States government changed the face of computer and internet use when it signed the USA Patriot Act on October 26, 2001. This act was created in the wake of the terrorist attacks in New York City on September 11 that same year. Many people believe that this act is a good thing and will help in defense against any future attacks. What most people do not know, however, is the effect of this act on the more general public. This includes individual people, public libraries, colleges and universities, and even trucking or hauling companies.

On September 11, 2001, the Unites States suffered massive destruction caused by terrorism. Four planes were hijacked by terrorist. Nearly, three thousand lives were lost when two planes crashed into the World Trade Towers, one crashed into the Pentagon, and the final plane crashed in Pennsylvania before it could reach its final destination. An immense fear spread across the country and out of this fear came the Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct the Terrorism, also known as the USA Patriot Act.

Since the September 11 attacks terrorism attacks the world has been in a constant war with terrorism. Right after these attacks, the Congress rushed to pass rules to strengthen security in the United States while also limiting our freedoms as a US citizen. On October 23, 2001, the Patriot Act was proposed. This act allows law enforcement officials to obtain a search warrant anywhere a terrorist-related activity occurred, it Prohibits the harboring of terrorists, and it punishes terrorist acts in the United States and around the world. On October 25, 2001, the Act was passed by the Senate by 98 to 1. The one vote that was in opposition to the act was Senator Russell Feingold. He and other opponents of the law have criticized its detentions of immigrants, and how the law allows enforcement officers to search a home or business without the owner's consent or knowledge. Although he was outnumbered 98 to 1 he still made an extensive impact on the outcome of the Patriot

A. Thesis: The Patriot Act is violating American’s right to privacy. Mainly, the right to hold a private phone conversation.

The Patriots Act has become a huge part of the community and some people do not even realize it, though plenty of the time they are using this Patriots Act to defend their idea of spying on the citizens around the world. In order for the community to feel safer, they must first take away the Patriots Act due to safety issues people tend to feel less secure when they know they are being watched for their every move. People have to understand that not only is this something that is pointless, but it makes people more aware of what they send. This act will not prevent terrorism in the world, due to the amount of damage that has been done in the world they have not found terrorist by seeing whom the contact when they contact and most of the time

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.

Other provisions included giving the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) the ability to share information, access wiretaps referred to “roving wiretaps” that would cover all of technology a suspect may own, access to records including banking, books, or any “any other items sought in connection with a terror investigation,” lowers the requirements to obtain a “wiretap or search order”, allows delayed notice to those whose home or office has been searched under the “sneak and peek” warrants and has “outlawed material support” to organizations considered terrorist groups (Abramson & Godoy, 2006, pp. 2-4).

The Patriot Act (Title II, Sec. 213) allows for the delayed notification of the execution of a search warrant. Under what circumstances can the notification be delayed?