The Patriot Act Essay -- essays research papers fc

The Patriot Act. On September 11, 2001 Muslim terrorists instilled with a hatred of the west attacked the United States in a brutal fashion. Planes were hijacked and flown into the World Trade Center in New York. Over three thousand people were killed and the impregnable nation known as America was know scared and vulnerable. Almost immediately the legislature began drafting an act that would make the war on terror and the fight for homeland security a little easier to fight, this would come to be known as the Patriot Act â€Å"PATRIOT† is an acronym for â€Å"Uniting and Strengthening America by providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism. The Patriot Act allows the government and law enforcement agencies to have certain freedoms that have not been allowed since before the attacks. The most controversial part of the Act is that surveillance guidelines have been relaxed along with investigative guidelines, while no system of checks to safeguard civil liberties are provided (Podesta) Another problem that is somewhat alarming was the quickness and haste with which the act was introduced-less than a week after the attacks. President Bush signed the Act on October 26 with no House, Senate, or conference reports. (Podesta) The Act is an expansion of the Anti Terrorism Act of 2001 (ATA) which was also intended to strengthen America against terrorism. Both acts expand the ability of law enforcement and an intelligence agency, the only difference is that the ATA contained safeguards against violations of constitutional rights. One of the safeguards was known as the â€Å"sunset provision†, which stated that certain sections of the Act expired after a period of time if it was not renewed by congress. Due to the fear and pandemonium our country was suffering the implementation of the Patriot Act commenced without any sort of judicial oversight. This has caused people to be discontent with the violation of their constitutional civil liberties. In the months before September 11, 2001 many ideas and provisions that are found in the Act were already being proposed and debated, especially those relation to electronic surveillance. Podesta states that the topic of broadening electronic surveillance was criticized harshly but after the attacks people chose panic over their misgivings. This is why the act passed so quickly. Podesta warns that many of ... ... an inferno. â€Å"But its my toy† they would complain, and your duty as a parent would be to tell them that trying to hold on to that toy would result in a serious injury to themselves and people around them. Civil liberties will come back to America in the coming years but for now I want my security to be first priority. Works Cited Frieden, Terry. â€Å"Attorney general defends Patriot Act† CNN.Com Apr. 6, 2005 http://edition.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/04/05/patriot.act Hatch, Orrin G. "Judiciary Statement: 'America After 9/11: Freedom Preserved Or Freedom Lost?'" Before the Senate Committee on the Judiciary. Nov. 18, 2003. http://hatch.senate.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressReleases.View&PressRelease_id=215260 Masci, David. "Civil Liberties in Wartime." The CQ Researcher Online 11.43 (2001). 4 May 2005 http://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/cqresrre2001121400. Document ID: cqresrre2001121400. Podesta, John. â€Å"The USA Patriot Act: The Good, the Bad and the Sunset†. Winter, 2002. http://www.epic.org/privacy/terrorism/usapatriot/ The American Civil Liberties Union. "Civil Liberties after 9/11". 2004. http://www.garynull.com/Documents/ACLU/911_Report.htm