USA Patriot Act After the devastating attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001, this country scrambled to take action to provide future protection. New techniques had to be developed to protect the nation from the menace of terrorism. Along with the new techniques came the decision to enact laws that some believed crossed the threshold of violating civil liberties this county and those living in it were guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States. “On October 26, 2001, the Public Law 107-56, Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism, also known as the USA Patriot Act, was signed into effect” (Stern, 2004, p. 1112). While speaking to Congress, President George Bush stated, “Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorist” (Stern, 2004, p. 1114). Congress knew by signing the bill, they were expecting each American to give up a part of his or her guaranteed rights. Rights such as the right to privacy, free speech and the right to know when a citizen is being investigated by the government were just among a few. The act has been described as a “law enforcement wish list” (Stravelli, 2003, p. 1). The wish list allows law enforcement to “obtain people’s personal information and conduct surveillance, and in some cases impose secrecy on their law enforcement activities” (Update: USA Patriot Act, 2007, p. 1). The most controversial provisions of the Patriot act are those that changed the ability of law enforcement to conduct their investigations. Stravelli (2003) Addressing the issue from the law enforcement perspective, the Patriot Act has contributed to the fight against terrorism by allowing government agencies to share information. ... ... middle of paper ... ...tp://www.npr.org/news/specials/patriotact/patriotactdeal.html. Boykoff, J. (2006). Review of How Patriotic is the Patriot Act? Freedom Versus Security in the Age of Terrorism, by Amitai Etzioni. The Journal of Politics, 68(2), 457-487. Paye, J. C. (2006, November). A Permanent State of Emergency. Monthly Review, 29-37. Stern, J. (2004). Fearing Evil. Social Research, 71(4), 1111-1126. Stravelli, G. (2003, October 3). Federal law has had major impact on local law enforcement. Atlanticville, p. 1. Update: USA Patriot Act. (2007, Dec., 10). Issues & Controversies on File. Retrieved November 22, 2010 from Issues & Controversies database on the website http://www.2facts.com/article/i1000240l. Van Bergen, J. (2002). The USA PATRIOT Was Planned Before 9/11. Global Issues. Retrieved from http://www.globalissues.org/article/342/the-usa-patriot-act-was-planned-before-911.
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.
After the horrendous terrorist attack on the New York Trade Center a new Bill was passed by congress shortly after September 11, 2004. This bill is known as The Domestic Security Enhancement Act also called Patriot Act 2. This bill was designed as a follow-up to the USA Patriot Act to work in increasing government surveillance, detention and other law enforcement powers while reducing basic checks and balances on such powers. By the beginning of the year 2003 a draft of the legislation was available. Amongst the most severe problems the bill diminishes personal privacy by removing checks on government power, diminishes public accountability by increasing government secrecy, and diminishes corporate accountability under the pretext of fighting terrorism. Also the bill undermines fundamental constitutional rights of Americans under overboard definitions of “terrorism” and “terrorist organization” or under a terrorism pretext. Furthermore, unfairly targets immigrants under the pretext of fighting terrorism. (http://www.aclu.org/Safeand Free/SafeandFree.cfm?ID=11835&c=206)
After the September 11th terrorist attacks, America was understandably frightened that this could happen again. Less than a week after the attacks the Bush administration introduced legislation that included items which had previously been voted down, sometimes repeatedly, by Congress. (Surveillance Under the USA Patriot Act)
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 Center. At this point, everyone knew that America was under attack. The third hijacked plane (Flight 77) crashed into the Pentagon at Arlington, Virginia, killing everyone on board and 125 people on land. The last plane (United Flight 93) crashed into an empty field around 80 miles south-east of Pittsburg. Over 2,891 people were killed in total, and many more were injured. (Walsh)
The U.S.A Patriot Act, which stands for Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism, was an act of congress that was signed by President George W. Bush in October of 2001. The act was in response to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack. The act is meant to help government agencies identify and prevent possible terrorist attacks and sponsorship of terrorist groups (Justice, 2015). The law has many pros, but as well countless cons. Some of the pros of the Patriot Act are it assist’s law enforcement in their investigations of terrorist activity, it speeds up investigations on terrorist activity, and it increases security measures. The cons of the act are the amount of authority
Since the terrorist attacks at Sept. 11, 2001, the surveillance issue often has turned away the table in the debate of individual privacy or counterterrorism. By passing the Patriot Act, Congress gave President Bush an immense law enforcement authority to boost U.S's counterterrorism, and the President used his enlarged powers to forward specific programs in order to reduce the threat of terrorism and defend the country’s safety.
Since the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, Americans fear that another attack is imminent. To ease these fears, lawmakers created the USA Patriot Act which stands for Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism. This lengthy bill allows the justice department a great deal of power in criminal cases especially in those dealing with terrorism. While, according to lawmakers, the Patriot Act is aimed at ending terrorism, it is arguable that the Patriot Act is aimed at beginning a Big Brother-type society. For the government of the United States to enforce a law that encourages the obstruction of the 1st, 4th, 5th and 6th Amendments and other civil liberties is highly hypocritical and quite un-American.
"Groups transcend politics in opposing 'most extreme' Patriot Act provisions." Emergency Preparedness News 5 Apr. 2005: 53. General OneFile. Web. 19 Nov. 2013.)
In his speech, from the outset, Bush asserts to the American public that the given tools and justifications hidden within the USA Patriot Act are necessary in the ‘War on Terror.’ He also states that law enforcement would be used, despite later making it quite clear that his administration felt it
The Patriot Act was signed into law by President George Bush on the 26th October 2001. The act is an Act of congress whose title is a ten letter acronym which stands for “Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism” (USA PATRIOT Act 2001). The Act was enacted 45 days following the September 11 attacks. The September 11 attacks on the world trade center in New York catalyzed the enactment of a legislation that would provide law enforcement with greater powers to investigate and prevent terrorist activities. The spirit of the act is founded on the notion of providing all that is required by law enforcement, within the limits of the constitution, to effectively combat the war on terror.
Since September 11, 2001 many people can say that America has changed. Many people question if America has changed for the better or has it just gotten worse. Since the day those four planes crashed around the United States people’s lives have been changed. Many may not realize how their lives have changed, but with new laws passed life is different within America. The United States Patriot Act is one of the laws passed after 9/11: singed into order on October 26, 2001 just 45 days after the attack. The United States Patriot Act was put in place in order to protect Americans, yet has been affecting American’s civil liberties and caused controversy all over the United States.
While this paper is an objective one that will not take sides on the issue of the Patriot Act, it will provide a look at the criticisms due to initially writing on why it was originally passed in the first place. The main concern that people have about the Patriot Act stems from the belief that it strips away at fundamental civil liberties. Many people feel that the Patriot Act compromises a person’s right to privacy which has been supported through precedent in Supreme Court cases, despite it not being explicitly stated in the Constitution (Grabianowski 2007 1). Arguably, this has been the constant focal point people have against the Patriot Act as not everyone wants to sacrifice their right to privacy, even if it is for safety reasons that are meant to help all people. Still, this has been a valid point of contention among the public, especially after the Snowden NSA leak. There is also the civil liberty that citizens are free from unreasonable searches and seizures. This civil liberty is a point of contention for many pundits as they believe the Patriot Act compromise it. Other civil liberties that the Patriot Act is argued to violate include detaining witnesses and terrorist suspects without granting them access to lawyers, or even hearings or any formal charges (Grabianowski 2007 1). These are seen as going against the Fifth and Sixth Amendments which cover the rights
With America left on its heels President Bush and Congress signed the USA Patriot Act into law in October 2001. The Patriot
It’s 9/11 and all you hear is cries from the people, while the Twin Towers crumbled down, the Pentagon engulfing in flames, and flight 93 crashing in a field. 19 men hijacked four commercial airlines. This terrorist attack on the United States was led by al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. A total of 2,977 people were killed in New York City, Washington, DC and outside of Shanksville, Pennsylvania, it was the worst terrorist attack in U.S. history. This day in history damaged not only the nation, but the people. Citizens were in fear of what could happen on top of all the commotion. The Patriot Act was made to secure the nation, and help people recover from the terrorism attack of 9/11. Some people may think the Patriot Act had no effect on major things. However some people think wrong in the matter. George W. Bush’s enforcement on the Patriot Act of 2011 majorly effected local enforcements, federal agencies, and military regulations.
There are two hundred ninety pages in the USA Patriot Act; many of these pages are discussing subjects that change the rights of American citizens forever. The act was passed in a little over a month, which suggest that few, if any, congressmen thoroughly read this detailed act. In times of crisis, history has proved that United States citizens willingly compromise their right of privacy without considering the consequences. Many people have openly accepted this act without knowing what it is, most people have never even heard of the USA Patriot Act. The USAPA (USA Patriot Act) has not gone under the scrutiny that any normal act would have, yet this could be more important than any other act to date. The USAPA allows national or domestic law enforces (from the NSA, FBI, and CIA all the way down to the local police) to tap your computer or voice mail with a simple search warrant issued by a judge. Only one out of ten thousand of these search warrants requests are rejected. The law enforcers are also allowed to tap electronic devices without telling the victim about the warrant or that they are being monitored. Also, the CIA and other foreign agencies are allowed to share information with the domestic law enforcement. This means that agencies that were once not allowed to intervene in the affairs of the USA can do so without punishment. These are few of the many la...