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The patriot act protects american civil liberties
Patriot act and civil liberties
Influence of the patriot act
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The most valuable aspects of individualism is the freedom to speak and to express are feelings that is what makes us human, as President Robert F. Kennedy stated in his Day of Affirmation Address that “…the first element of this individual liberty is the freedom of speech: the right to express and communicate ideas, to set oneself apart from the dumb beasts of field and forest…” My family came to the U.S. because of the promises of freedom. When we were in India we could not speak ill of the politics that were corrupt because if we did there would be chaos and riots. As we came to America we found that we did not have to look constantly behind are backs when we criticized the government until the Patriot Act was put into place but now we can not express are feelings due to the Patriot Act. The Patriot Act fails to secure American liberties but that the act exposes the weakness in the U.S. government. The act encourages government corruption, secrecy, fraud and discrimination and violates are constitution. The government uses the national security as a pretense for violating our constitutional rights; for example the freedom of speech and our privacy (Day). 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. I believe that the Patriot Act eliminates the chec... ... middle of paper ... ... could not change my subject when I was already deep into what I was writing. I asked him why I should worry about writing my mind; he told me that when he was at work a coworker of his was talking about how the government questioned him for writing an essay on how terrorists have benefited the United States. Why should we be afraid to write what is on our mind. America was built so that people could have the freedoms that they needed and that they did not have to be scrutinized by the government as stated by our late president Abraham Lincoln, "...Government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the Earth." If our presidents in the past have fought for these rights why should one act take away all that they have fought for? The Patriot Act should be dismantled due to the fact that the rights of the people are being violated.
Financial records, library records, travel records, video rentals, phone records, medical records, and religious records can all be searched if the government states that the search is done to protect against terrorism. The act was passed after the 9/11 attack. Similarly to the Alien and Sedition Acts and the Espionage and Sedition Acts, the Patriot Act is a severe and controversial act passed in the wake of a severe and controversial event. This act is unconstitutional and disregards the personal liberties of the United States’ citizens.
Everyday we have the chance to make her own opinions and give reason to our own voice. We have the chance to live in a country that encourages freedom in society, which separate ourselves from any restrictions imposed upon by authority, actions or any political views. liberty is the power we possess to act as we please through freedom and independence. But what happens when we choose to give away our basic liberties for temporary safety? Benjamin Franklin once stated, “They who give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” Those who decide to give away their personal freedoms for something that is temporary do not see the value in the long-lasting gift called freedom. In
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)
Is the patriot act necessary if it protects but threatens our civil liberates? The patriot act threatens civil liberates. The U.S. is spying without the people’s consent. The patriot act will prevent terrorist attacks on the United States. The patriot act can be used to catch wanted criminals. The patriot act protects the people from danger but jeopardizes their civil rights.
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 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.
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...
One of the most notable changes included the introduction of Patriot Act on October 2001 (Rowen, 2007). The Patriot Act allowed the government officials to conduct searches without warrants, monitor financial transactions, detain and deport individuals that were suspected of committing terrorist acts.
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 vote in the Senate was not as indicative of what the House numbers would suggest for Democrats. In fact, the bill was approved by the Senate at 98-1 with only one senator abstaining from the vote (Adachi 1 2006). That senator was Mary Landrieu, a Democratic senator from Louisiana who was currently serving in her first term. The lone senator who voted against the Patriot Act and in fact shared the many concerns that present day Americans have over the Patriot Act was Russ Feingold, a Democratic senator from Wisconsin, ironically the polar opposite of his fellow statesman Sen. Sensenbrenner, the same man who put the Patriot Act into writing. Feingold, though is not primarily known for being the lone person to vote against the Patriot Act.
There was an article saying that in 2007, the government subpoenaed amazon.com to obtain book purchasing records of amazons customers. Judge Stephen Crocker said that, “ the subpoena is troubling because it permits the government to peek into the reading habits of specific individuals with out their knowledge or permission. It is an unsettling and un-American scenario to envision federal agents nosing through the reading lists of law-abiding citizens while hunting for evidence against somebody else.” This article brings into question the constitutional rights of the 4th and 9th amendments, of warrants and privacy of citizens: should the government be able to look into private records showing purchases and other private businesses of citizens without a warrant?
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.
American freedom has faced many tribulations, especially throughout the slavery, segregation, and women’s suffrage eras. However, the ideological belief of individual freedom has always triumphed. From when the first Pilgrim stepped onto American soil to the present day America has been run by a democracy and the freedom that system of government allows its peoples to have. “Americans share a common identity grounded in the freedom — consistent always with respecting the freedom of others — to live as they choose” (Friedman).
Freedom is the power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants without hindrance or restraint. In America there is numerous of choices that someone may make on a daily basis. If someone were allowed to make their own choices and were being told what to do; then they would not be free. When someone is allowed to speak when they want to, and say what they want; such as their opinion or view of something. Being allowed to have a right to speak is one of the most important characteristics of being an American. Thinking and stating your opinion in any predicament it a strong part in being a citizen because people in the United States are known for being able to think in their own ways. Freedom can stretch too many things such as being able to do as they please, they are not forced into doing anything that someone may want. The citizens of the United States are not made to do anything that one may not want to do; like
...ty and privacy are essential for it. Also, I am a dual citizen and in my other country, which is Brazil, we are still somewhat haunted by the shadow of a dictatorship that just ended in 1987. So I know people who have suffered the consequences of lack of liberty. Even so sometimes I am doubtful of my opinion, even though I try not to express it often and defend liberty as much as I can. Whenever I see some terrible act, whether terrorist or governments do it, I think if there would be a way to stop that with restrictions on certain liberties and more surveillance. However, if we do that, if we overreact, we destroy our values, destroy a part of ourselves and fill our soul with devils and dust.