The USA Patriot Act and Civil Liberties
September 11, 2001 sparked many different feelings into the hearts of Americans. People sprang into action to seek revenge and protect America’s precious soils from another deadly attack by reinforcing America’s strength through her government. The men and women of Congress retaliated to the terrorist attacks by drafting and passing the USA PATRIOT Act on October 26, 2001, which stands for “Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism.” The bill was moved through Congress with amazing speed and little hesitation. After the passing, the unsuspecting citizens of America were bombarded with many new rules and regulations that have greatly become a threat to the civil liberties, and the First Amendment itself. The people of America have planned out different ways to comply and/or soften the PATRIOT Act. The American Library Association, Senator Feingold, Firstlogic Financial Advisors, and the House of Representatives have taken steps to aid America in retrieving her freedom. Obviously, some of these sources are really passionate about totally wiping out the sections that deal with them, while others are just trying to soften the sections that pertain to them.
The American Library Association
The American Library Association has taken drastic measures in making sure that the sections devoted to monitoring library activity in the PATRIOT Act become erased. When it comes to the PATRIOT Act, it’s not that the ALA is unpatriotic, they too believe that the government has the right to protect the people, but the ALA doesn’t see why the government should have the power to suppress knowledge and informati...
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...ies” (MoFo). It’s like the Superman of anything money-related in the UK. The FSMA’s (Financial Services and Markets Act 2000) argument for creating something so dominating is that this system creates unification which addresses the problems of new technology (MoFo).
Finding one awesome solution to the end of what many consider to be the stealing away of their civil liberties would be like solving the age old dilemma of finding the needle in the haystack. There is no one solution that is going to please everybody. Right now, new ideas and bills are being proposed in Congress to find a solution to the USA PATRIOT Act, hoping to help change the already passed legislation. All we American’s can do right now is cherish what civil liberties we still have and hope that the government will continue to have what is considered to be “our best interest” in mind.
Less than one week after the devastating terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the U.S.A. Patriot Act was introduced to Congress. One month later, the act passed in the Senate with a vote of 98-1. A frightened nation had cried for protection against further attacks, but certainly got more than they had asked for. Russell Feingold, the only Senator to vote down the act, referred to it as, “legislation on the fly, unlike anything [he] had ever seen.” In their haste to protect our great nation, Congress suspended, “normal procedural processes, such as interagency review and committee hearings,” and, “many provisions were not checked for their constitutionality, lack of judicial oversight, and potential for abuse.” Ninety-eight senators were willing to overlook key civil liberty issues contained within the 342 page act. The lone dissenting vote, Wisconsin Senator Russell Feingold, felt that our battle against terrorism would be lost “without firing a shot” if we were to “sacrifice the liberties of the American people.” Feingold duly defended American civil liberties at the risk of his career, truly exemplifying political courage as defined by John F. Kennedy.
Schiller, W. J., Geer, J. G., & Segal, J. A. (2013). Gateways to democracy: introduction to American government, the essentials. (2nd ed.). Belmont, Calif.: Wadsworth ;.
"The Triumph of Technique – The Logic of the NSA." LibrarianShipwreck. WordPress.com, 22 June 2013. Web. 08 Feb. 2014.
...vil rights and losing protection. Protection is more important but unnecessary spying should not be tolerated. “The sad truth is that most Americans have already lost the battle when it comes to keeping personal information absolutely private.”( Lee, M.Dilascio, Tracey M.4).
...ew Orleans. Thomas Jefferson sent Lewis and Clark on an expedition, to scout and map the newly acquired territory, hopefully encouraging settlement there and proving that the land was good. Although now the nation’s territorial expansion has ended, the westward movement of people continues to this day.
Issues of censorship in public schools are contests between the exercise of discretion and the exercise of a Constitutional right. The law must reconcile conflicting claims of liberty and authority, as expressed by Supreme Court Justice Felix Frankfurter in Minersville School District v. Gobitis, 1940 in “Banned in the U.S.A.: A Reference Guide to Book Censorship in Schools and Public Libraries” by Herbert N. Foerstel (23).
Benjamin Franklin, one of the founding fathers of the United States, once said “Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.” In America’s society today, some are willing to sacrifice their civil liberties in order to gain protection and security over some potential threat. Especially after the events of September 11th and several attempted bombings in U.S. cities. This sacrifice of individual freedoms such as the freedom of speech, expression, the right to information, to new technologies, and so forth, for additional protection is more of a loss than a gain. Citizens of the United States deserve equal liberty and safety overall, as someone should not have to give up one value in order to gain another. This concept of individual right goes beyond the simple idea of “individual comfort.” Personal liberties cannot be surrendered and are not to be compromised since these liberties are intangible. Individuals should not have their personal liberties exchanged for national security because individuals are guaranteed protection to these rights.
The U.S. Patriot Act was set in place to better serve our country against terrorism. The U.S. Patriot Act is an Acronym for Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Acts (Lithwick). This act is to punish terrorist actions and improve law enforcement not only in the United States but also around the world. The United States Patriot Act consists of over 1,000 sections that describe the act in great detail. The sections include, but are not limited to, the power extended to the government by The U.S. Patriot Act to deport and incarcerate non citizens. With the U.S. Patriot Act a person’s phone line can be tapped, records of any and all purchases checked, and even library records searched. This Act also has sections to help money laundering, expand our country’s border protection, strengthening the extent of criminal laws and provide for people suffering from any type of terrorism acts (Huffman).
The Blacklist is a crime drama television program that airs on NBC. It is an American television series that stars Megan Boone, James Spader and Harry Lennix. The idea behind it is that an ingenious, criminal mastermind, for some apparent reason, starts to assist the FBI in catching the world’s most wanted criminals, some of which they did not know existed. Yet, Raymond “Red” Reddington surrenders to the authorities under the condition that he will only cooperate with a rookie FBI profiler, Elizabeth Keen. NBC ordered for a nine episode first run on October 4, 2013, and in December 2013, they renewed the show by ordering a twenty two episode second season as an early indication for future success. But, what were the reasons for the show’s early success? After examining various trade journals and articles on the subject, I am asserting that The Blacklist is the number one new television from last Fall’s list of pilots based on its specific marketing, distribution, audience, timeslot, critical reception, and potential revenue.
In his article “internet addiction”, published in 2010 by Reason Magazine, Greg Beato tries to show how internet addiction, an excessive behavior brought up by the psychiatrist Ivan Gilbert, is an important issue for the society and why it should be considered as a behavior disorder. He supports his thesis by using a lot of evidence such as graphics, statistics, and researches. Although, Beato’s arguments about the causes of internet addiction and the reasons why it should add to the DSM are mostly true, some of his observations on the future are pessimistic.
The Houston Chronicle, pp. C14. Retrieved December 2, 2002 from Lexis-Nexis/Academic database. This article emphasizes the point that censors go too far when they attempt to not only ban a book for their own children but want to remove it altogether from a school library, so that other students cannot read it.
Censoring school books in libraries can often lead to censorship of our basic freedoms guaranteed in the First Amendment. In some cases, a minority ends up dictating the majority in censorship
Kuhse, Helga. “Euthanasia.” A Companion to Ethics. Ed. Peter Singer. Malden: Blackwell Publishing, 1991. 294-302. Print.
Reitman, Rainey. " The Cost of Censorship in Libraries: 10 Years Under the Children’s Internet Protection Act." Electronic Frontier Foundation. Electronic Frontier Foundation, 4 Sept. 2013. Web.
The underperformance of many students at the primary level of the education system in Jamaica has caused the schools to be placed under the microscope and there has been an intense focus on academic performance of students and the success of primary schools in general. Tied to this underperformance are many problems that are hindering the teaching and learning process, but little focus is placed on the learning environment and therefore the school climate as a critical factor is faded in the background. School climate is the learning environment created through the interaction of human relationship, physical setting and psychological atmosphere, (Perkins, 2006). A favourable school climate forms the structure within which teachers, students, parents and principals function cooperatively and constructively.