Recent Federal Acts and Social Justice
There have been a few recent federal acts that have been called into question after they were introduced. Two of these acts that are being called into question are the Patriot Act and the Homeland Security Act. In the paragraphs below it will be discussed if these acts have taken valuable rights away from Americans or if they have caused loss of liberties. It will also be discussed how these acts can affect social justice.
After the terrorist attacks on 9/11 everyone in America wanted to justice for those who lost their lives and wanted to know how this could happen on American soil. The government’s answer for this was the Patriot Act and the Homeland Security Act. As soon as these acts were introduced they have been criticize. Even with criticism President George W. Bush signed them into law and President Barack Obama renewed the Patriot Act in two thousand and eleven for four more years.
“The official title of the Patriot Act is Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism. The purpose of the USA PATRIOT Act is to deter and punish terrorist acts in the United States and around the world. To enhance law enforcement investigatory tools, and to strengthen U.S. measures to prevent, detect and prosecute international money laundering and financing of terrorism.” (Calvery, 2013)
The Patriot Act gave law enforcement more ways to be able to catch terrorist activities on American soil by doing wire taps on the telephones, search emails, and monitoring bank transactions. If you are a suspected terrorist you can be monitored without your knowledge and your home can be searched without a search warrant.
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...d you are either with us or against us. If people disagree with these acts they may be worried that history will repeat itself and neighbors may turn in people that they believe are terrorist sympathizers.
Society should be distributed in order to attain equality for all members. (Robinson, 2013) Many Muslims may feel that social justice no longer applies to them. It is important that every American feel they have the same rights and protections. I believe in bending the rules if it will keep us safe, but not where it takes away the right of American citizens such as freedom of speech or freedom of religion. I believe that there can be a happy medium if there is intelligence then I believe the extra surveillance is acceptable. But should never be used on Americans that have nothing to do with terrorists. This is the only way we can keep social justice intact.
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)
While this act made legislative changes that increased surveillance and the investigative powers of law enforcement agencies to protect America from further terrorist acts, the passing of the USA Patriot Act has reduced the privacy rights of Americans and also does not provide for a system of checks and balances that safeguard civil liberties. Terrorism is a serious matter that should not be handled lightly, but the act has gone over the top in trying to stop terrorism. The USA Patriot Act, enacted for protecting America from further attacks, not only does little if anything to protect Americans, but rather undermines their civil rights. The Patriot Act targets not only terrorists, but also the American people which it intended to protect.
USA patriot Act, also known as the “Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism” Act was passed October 26, 2001, after the September 11 attacks on the world trade center so that intelligence agencies can find terrorist in the united states and prosecute them. The Patriot Act allows the intelligence agencies to tap into phones, emails and banking history without the consent of a judge. The federal government have unlimited authority to spy on American citizens.
Following the terrorist attacks, Congress created the Patriot Act. The act allowed law enforcement's around the country greater ability to track terrorism or possible terrorists. It expanded the governments ability to investigate and punish terrorists. This act was accepted quickly by the House of Representatives, and was passed almost unanimously in the Senate. President George W. Bush signed this act into being on October 6th, 2001. This act allows the police to have surveillance over any form of communication that could be used by a terrorist. Things that were private privileges, such as emails, the internet, and, ...
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.
National security has been greatly enhanced by the passage of the patriot act. The USA PATRIOT act is an act of congress of Congress that was signed by President Bush in 2001. The title of the act is a ten-letter acronym that stands for Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism. The patriot act was signed into law as a result of the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. The USA PATRIOT act has had helped America make progress toward becoming the most secure nation in the world.
These types of montitoring have a good side and a bad side. The Patriot Act is an Act of Congress that was signed into law by President George W. Bush in 2001 after 9/11. Its backronym, U.S.A. P.A.T.R.I.O.T., which stands for "Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001.
In conclusion, I believe that the US Patriot Act is putting the United States’s citizens in danger. Accusing and arresting innocent people who are not terrorists will end up making people turn against each other. The government is casting a net so big that it catches not only the bad people, but the good as well, all in the name of 6National Security. Are we really living in a nation that believes in “Liberty and Justice for all?”
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.
The Patriot Act has been under scrutiny and opposition since its creation following 9/11. When 9/11 struck it was clear that Americas intelligence was lacking in some specific way, but it was translated that America needed greater allowance for gathering information. The Patriot Act was signed on October 26, 2001, very close to 9/11. It can be concluded that the Patriot Act was signed with such extreme ability’s applied, because of how close it was signed after 9/11. The Act Greatly expands the liberty’s if law enforcement in their efforts to gather information, which in turn imposes on the privacy of the American people. The FBI has the ability to study any citizen suspected of terrorism, and has access to all their information. Wire Taps and other invasive action are allowed and granted by the Patriot Act. Was the Patriot Act signed to quickly? Are its measures to extreme? When is the line drawn on how much power the government can have? Is the Patriot Act effective enough that it is necessary? Should we as Americans willing to trade freedom for safety? Can the Patriot Act effectively stop or hinder terrorist attacks; has its stopped enough attacks to be validated? Another question is does America want a government that has that much power, how much are we as Americans willing to sacrifice, and how much more liberty’s is the government going take. If the government can pass the patriot act, what other legislation can they pass? In reality it all comes down to the American people, we are democracy but do we have the power in are hands? When finding all these questions one asks do we need an act that is in fact this controversial? Is the Patriot Act a necessary evil? To find this answer we have to answer all the questio...
The main purpose of the Patriot Act is to punish and prevent terrorist acts within the United States and in the world. The Act also enhances the investigatory powers of law enforcement and accomplishes other purposes which include strengthening of the country’s measures in the detection, prevention and prosecution of international money laundering and financial terrorism schemes. The act gives law enforcement power to scrutinize foreign institutions, jurisdictions and classes of transactions or accounts that are vulnerable to abuse. It also strengthens measures aimed at preventing the use of the country’s financial systems for personal gain through corruption by foreign officials as well as facilitating the repatriation of stolen assets to the owners of such assets. Additionally, the act requires all financial service providers to report all elements of probable money laundering activities.
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 Patriot Act has prevented terrorism inside the United States in numerous cases. It has updated anti-terrorism laws to counter new technology, increased penalties for the acts of terror, and has helped decrypt information between law enforcement and the community. The Patriot
Unlike information gathered in previous criminal cases the Patriot Act allowed law enforcement agencies to intercept communication without warrants. While the Patriot Act may have seemed scary to many Americans it was beneficial to officials to protect the United States from future attacks. While the Patriot Act was an invasive action used by the government to prevent and deter terrorism, it did not harm citizens but enhanced their safety.