The Patriot Act Essay

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.

After the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001, a controversial piece of legislation was adopted and passed called the U.S.A. Patriot Act. The title for this bill is an acronym for "the United and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act" (USA Patriot Act).

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 Patriot Act was created in the year of 2001, the same year that the tragic day, 9.11, occurred. On September 11th, 2001, 19 terrorists working for Al-Qaeda hijacked four planes, and caused this day to be forever remembered in the history of the United States. At 8:46 AM on September 11th, the first hijacked plane (American Airlines Flight 11) crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center. Specifically, it crashed into the 93-99th floors, trapping everyone on the floors above. Many people had doubts about this being a terrorist attack; they thought that it was just an accident. However, all of those doubts were removed when the second hijacked plane (United Airlines Flight 175) crashed into the South Tower of the World Trade

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

To sum up Section 213, agents, through very little proof of evidence, are able to enter someone’s house and do a full search of their property without any kind of notice. Obviously when it is at the discretion of the officers, they will likely overuse this power to extend past just possible terrorist attacks and call for the use of this section in other cases as well. Although there are obvious issues with this ruling, Heather MacDonald in The Patriot Act Is No Slippery Slope argues that this section is a critical part of the process of protecting Americans from terrorist attacks. She uses an example of the FBI wanting to “plumb Mohamed Atta’s hard-drive for evidence of a nascent terror attack” (Donald, p. 1). In the text she goes on to argue that by allowing Mr. Atta notice of the FBIs’ intent to execute a search warrant on his property he would have

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 basis of the USA Patriot Act (Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept

To a vast majority of Americans, there exists the belief that the Patriot Act violates their right to privacy, and does little to ensure national security. However, this was not the intention of the Bush Administration, who passed this law. One week after September 11, 2001, the Patriot Act, a law that was meant to strengthen national security, was signed by the Bush Administration to ensure that no terrorist attack would ever harm the lives of more Americans. The Patriot Act gave federal law enforcement agencies what they needed to mount an effective and coordinated plan to stop United States Terrorism. The officials were given the right to carry out surveillance over the internet, phone conversations, and public records. Therefore, this

In the United States of America we strive on making it a safe place for everyone also strive to have freedom for all. After the tragedy it changes it for everyone on how we observed the outside world especially the Middle East. When September 11, 2001 it was that day that change our perceptions when the Twin Towers in New York City was crashed by two different airplanes causing it to fall down. There were many people who died because of the tragic events, mostly people love ones. This occurs when President George W. Bush was still in office, he signed the Patriot Act with the Act of Congress on October 26, 2001. It was titled a ten-letter acronym that stands for “Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to intercept

According to the Constitution Rights Foundation, “On October 26, President George W. Bush signed the Patriot Act into law. He praised the ‘new tools to fight the present danger . . . a threat like no other our Nation has ever faced.’ He also asserted that the Patriot Act ‘upholds and respects the civil liberties guaranteed by our Constitution’” (The Patriot Act). Supporters of the Patriot Act will argue that ever since it was passed, it has helped prevent future terrorist attacks. They have also argued that the secrecy behind the Patriot Act helps to keep the terrorist organizations from knowing vital information that would be valuable to them. This is a valid point; as well trained terrorists

The patriot act has given police more freedom in combating terrorism while interfering with our personal rights. So in another word, it violates some of our constitutional rights. I don’t agree with my rights being taken away in the name of terrorism. Because if you are or you aren’t doing anything, wrong all the government needs to lock you up is just a suspicion. And you're in jail, I don’t think that the government should have this kind of power.

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

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