Patriot Act
The U.S.A. Patriot Act was passed because of the terrorist attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001. We realized that our current body of laws did not completely address the task of finding terrorists before they take action. The Patriot Act was passed to make it easier for us to protect ourselves from future terrorist acts. The Act has been controversial because although most people recognize the need to effectively prevent future attacks, some people feel the law has gone too far and infringed on civil liberties. Other critics contend that the law doesn't give government enough power (Doyle, 2002).
The Patriot Act makes various actions by the government when trying to identify who might be a terrorist easier to execute. It extends wiretapping to email, provides for nationwide permission to use wiretapping and related investigatory techniques rather than having to get those permissions on a state by state or municipality by munipality basis. The Patriot Act includes voice mail, and allows computer system searches under some circumstances. It allows for property confiscation and increases laws regarding money laundering. (Doyle, 2002).
It also puts restrictions on due process and allows for double jeopardy (being tried more than once for the same crime) under some circumstances. It identifies specific activities as new crimes including harboring terrorists and attacks on mass...
USA PATRIOT Act: Discussion Questions The USA PATRIOT Act, as the Department of Justice (2014) points out was enacted by Congress with an aim of equipping those charged with the enhancement of law and order with new tools to not only combat but also prevent acts of terror. An acronym, the PATRIOT Act, in the words of Ronczkowski (2006, p. 64), is "formally known as the Uniting and Strengthening America by
Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism is the extended terminology that refers to the U.S.A. Patriot Act which, following the events of 9/11 was passed by the Senate immediately and almost unanimously. When the Pentagon and the World Trade Center were attacked in 2001, concerns over national security and America's susceptibility to terrorist threats emerged more so as the country remained baffled
The effect is that exclusion is not only applied to those who would hurt the government but also to those that would uphold the same. The Patriot Act provides facilitation of shared information as well as cooperation between agencies of the government in order for all the pieces of the puzzle to fit together. The Act moves aside the barriers that have Constitutionally speaking prevented the police, intelligence as well
However the disclaimers of USA Patriot Act agree on the necessity of protecting the nation and the world against terrorism, they also emphasize on the need to further analyze and change the act so that it does protect the individual liberties of the U.S. citizens and respects the provisions in the American constitution. 5. Discussion The question that has been asked by many simple individuals relies in the true agenda of the
In this case, it may be seen that the Patriot Act does not protect all citizens. It can be used to violate basic human right. Use of National Security Letters. The use of National Security Letters where the government asks private agencies (media, banks, etc.) for private information and give a NSL, wherein said agency cannot divulge the fact that they had given the said information, has also been rampant.
The result is thousands of people denied the necessary refuge that they seek. Clintora condemns this as a "major policy gap (that) threatens not only human rights in individual countries but also jeopardizes international and regional stability and American regional influence and economic interests." Kreimer (2007) expounds upon the fact that few legislators had time to fully read the PATRIOT Act, when it was first proposed. Once enacted, there was
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