The Patriot Act By Robert F. Kennedy

With good intentions, the Patriot Act allows the government to pry into Americans' lives through computer and phone records as well as credit and banking history (Source 5). This oversteps the U.S. Constitution as the First and Fourth Amendment were created to give citizens freedom and the right to deny search and seizure

Government and congress knew they had to act upon these attacks and make changes quickly. That year on October 26th, President George W. Bush signed the Patriot Act into law. Although the Patriot Act was created to help and better the security for the United States, it violated the privacy and rights of the citizens. This controversy on the Patriot Act went on for a long time. The patriot act violated basic civil liberties of the people. Basically, all in all, Civil liberties is your rights and freedoms given to you by the amendments of the constitution. The First Amendment is supposed to guarantee citizens the right to freedom of speech, freedom of press, freedom of religion. It also guarantees you your basic rights given to you by the Bill of Rights. Examples include, human rights, individual rights, right to life, right to peacefully assemble, right to petition government for redress, right to property, right to privacy, and right to worship. However, the patriot act violated many of those rights given to the citizens. For example, the patriot act allowed law enforcement to use surveillance against crimes of terror. Before the Patriot Act, courts could permit law enforcement to get electronic surveillance to investigate many ordinary, non-terrorism crimes, such as drug crimes, mail fraud, and passport fraud. Another Example would be the patriot act allows law enforcement officials to obtain a search warrant anywhere a terrorist-related activity occurred. This means if you live in an area and there has been terrorist activity, the government is allowed to check your house and your property. They can invade your personal space and belongings to ensure that there is no terrorist activity going

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.

Is the Patriot Act Unconstitutional? The Patriot Act was introduced in 2001 after the September 11 attacks. The Patriot Acts purpose is to deter and punish terrorist acts in the United States and around the world. The Patriot Act Is meant to help stop terrorism by making it easier to get search warrants for suspected terrorists. The purpose of the Patriot Act is to enable law enforcement officials to track down and punish those responsible for the attacks on 9/11 and to protect against any similar attacks. The Act grants the government the powers to trace and intercept terrorist communications both for law enforcement and intelligence purposes. This means that the government can use wire taps, monitor email traffic, confiscate

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.

The position held by those who disagree with my view would believe that the Patriot Act is a complete and total violation of Americans rights. They would believe that this is a violation of the fourth, fifth, sixth, and eighth amendments. The act allows the government to get around the Fourth Amendment by allowing them to track who visits which website, and read private emails. (Johnson) Specifically, critics say that this act makes it a lot easier for the federal government to many things, such as obtain information about people, and eavesdrop on telephone conversations. Soon after the Patriot Act was accepted, many people voiced their differing opinions of it. People in civil liberties groups believed that the act took too much freedom away from the people. They believed it violated the 4th, 5th, 6th, and 8th amendments. The 4th amendment states that searches and seizures can only take place

The PATRIOT Act abuses the privacy of American citizens. It has denied the nationals of this nation of a portion of the essential rights that were guaranteed to them in the Constitution. The rights that the PATRIOT Act puts into jeopardy are intrinsic and it is the responsibility to secure our inherent rights. The USA PATRIOT Act is an Act of Congress that was marked into law by President George W. Bush on October 26, 2001. Its title is a ten-letter acronym (USA PATRIOT) that stands for "Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001. After the attacks on the Twin Towers and the Pentagon the United States has created relief controls

The Patriot Act allows the United States to use surveillance and wiretaps to keep its country safe from terrorists and other radical groups. This impacts our lives everyday whether we know it or not, by such as a one

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

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.

The US Patriot act, is a 342 page piece of legislation that contains more than 150 sections and changed more than 15 federal laws (Constitutional rights foundation) passed congress and was signed by the president only 45 days after the attack on our country in September of 2001. These laws and sections are said to protect our country from terrorist attacks such as those in the Twin Towers ambush. It gives the executive branch of federal government more tools and power to fight people of suspected terrorist activities. The Patriot act's main job is to protect the safety of all americans from the fear and worry of terrorism in our country. The official title of the Patriot act is “Uniting and strengthening america by providing appropriate tools required to intercept and obstruct terrorism”(Constitutional Rights Foundation),acronymed to “The USA Patriot act”.

“Today, our fellow citizens, our way of life, our very freedom came under attack in a series of deliberate and deadly terrorist acts. These acts of mass murder were intended to frighten our nation into chaos and retreat. But they have failed. Our country is strong. A great people has been moved to defend a great nation,” George W. Bush. “On September 11, 2001, nineteen individuals, each connected with al – Qaeda, hijacked four commercial jet airliners with the intent of killing Americans. The individuals smashed two of the airliners into the World Trade Center in New York City, both structures symbolic of American strength. The captors smashed the third plane into the Pentagon (another edifice symbolic of American power). On the fourth aircraft, both passengers, and flight crew tried to regain control of their plane from the terrorists, resulting in the craft’s crashing in a barren field in rural Somerset County, Pennsylvania (Smith ix).” The USA PATRIOT Act, enacted seven weeks after September 11 attacks, granted the federal government sweeping new powers to expand surveillance, curtail financing, and deport people in connection with terrorist activity (Stanford). The Patriot Act is one of the most powerful laws of modern day and has powerful ramifications for the future (Ibbetson 4). “True patriots realized that one must protect the nation from all enemies, foreign and domestic (Etzioni 1).” The U.S.A. P.A.T.R.I.O.T. Act is an acronym for Uniting and Strengthening America

To my understanding the U.S Constitution is a number of principles that are supposed to be acknowledged by the U.S. I do not believe that the Patriot Act is obeying these principles; as a matter of fact it violates several amendments that are in the Constitution. According to the highlights of the Patriot act, “Allowing males of Middle Eastern or South Asian descent to be profiled as potential terrorists, without probable cause…” This allows any person who is of Middle Eastern or South Asian decent that lives in the U.S to be acknowledged as a terrorist without any evidence at all. This is completely inhumane and causes major problems in society. It mainly forces countless individuals of the U.S to live in fear just because of their ethnic background. Now, this is just one of the many problems of the Patriot Act. According to Eric Lichtblau, “ … [The Government] demand records from institutions like libraries and medical offices; and use a broad definition of terrorism in pursuing suspects…” This demonstrates the violation of the 4th amendment, which states, “… unreasonable searches and seizures shall not be violated…”(Amendments to the Constitution). Essentially, I do understand and believe in the concept of the Patriot Act, however, I don’t find it to be relevant if it is mainly contradicting the U.S

It was and still is one of the most controversial acts in history: “The USA Patriot Act is one of the most sweeping acts in modern history because of its potential impact on civil liberties” (Cornehls). The Patriot Act threatens civil liberties in numerous ways. Just take a look at the Bill of Rights. It violates the First and Fourth Amendments. The Patriot Act violates freedom of speech for everyday, ordinary people because they get flagged for keywords that are ridiculous.

The Patriot Act consists of enhancing law enforcement investigatory tools, and for other purposes. The 4th amendment promises us our privacy in our persons. This act opposes towards that right. It goes against it by invading and patronizing our lawful rights. They have access to our personal information without an unreasonable search. Political cartoonists even agree that the supposably security they are giving us is overwhelming and unnecessary. For example their is a cartoon of the lady Liberty full of cameras, radars, and a phone record of all our calls and messages. Its coming to a point where the security they are giving us is making us citizens not feel safe but controlled. If we were to live in a world full of security it will be as if we are in a hostile environment of communism. People are confused as to what it is they are trying to portray, it is as if they are confused and maybe even brainwashed. The security that a Prison provides is much more understandable and liveable. You'll feel as if you have more freedom in there then out there. It has come to where freedom makes us feel more secure and protected then what they are providing us with right