Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) 1978, Antiterrorism

¶ … Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) 1978, Antiterrorism Effective Death Penalty

Acts of Terror

There are a number of similarities and points of interest between the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 FISA, the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996, and the U.S.A. PATRIOT Act of 2001. Collectively, these acts make it exceedingly difficult for those involved in acts of terrorism to operate and, when caught, to get any sort of leniency to assist in their getting out of jail. As such, these acts can have a formidable presence and make a significant impact on the war on terrorism.

One of the points of commonality for all of these acts is the fact that they are primarily focused on domestic offenders. This is particularly true of FISA, which details specific procedures for engaging in covert activities to find criminals (DHZ/Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties). FISA advocates the usage of espionage, both physically and via electronic means, to determine what sort of Americans may be engaged in illegal activities. Specifically, this act was created to find civilians that were attempting to assist foreign powers in a subversive, illegal way -- which may involve acts of terror.

The fact that FISA was principally created to undermine and discourage acts of terror on the part of civilians also intrinsically links it with the PATRIOT Act. In fact, FISA was actually amended by the latter act, principally as a means of prosecuting terrorists who may not have an affiliation with foreign nations. As such, there are a number of commonalities between both of these acts. The terrorist act also allows for physical and electronic surveillance of Americans who are suspected of engaging in terrorist acts. The Patriot act made it legal for the government and entities at its disposal to monitor the telephone calls and internet activities of Americans.

The Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996, passed in response to the World Trade Center bombing, (Holland 2009) was not just expressly created to discourage terrorism. In this respect it is significantly different from the other two aforementioned acts. Instead, the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act substantially weakens the power of habeas corpus, which allows those who have been illegally imprisoned access to a degree of measures that lets them get out of jail. Federal judges' ability to let criminals have a degree of relief in their sentencing under habeas corpus are restricted in their actions; additionally, individuals who have previously attempted to utilize habeas corpus, and who were denied, have an extremely more difficult time attempting to utilize this measure to get out of jail again.

The cumulative effect of these acts substantially aids the United States government in the vigilance, prosecution, and imprisoning of potential terrorists. They grant the government sophisticated means to monitor the activities of these types of criminals, based on electronic and other means of surveillance. Furthermore, in the case in which criminals are imprisoned, they have a much harder time getting out of prison due to the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act.