Patriot Act

Patriot Act

On September 11th, 2001, the American public saw the face of fear and stood bravely in its shadow, its shadow which covered New York City and Washington DC. Shortly thereafter, President George W. Bush proclaimed that he would do everything in his power to protect the American people. Freedom in the United States has become increasingly constricted since 2001. Not only did the terrorist attacks of September 11 have a huge effect on the U.S. economy, but our nation's response has tested the limits of America's core freedoms.

Congress passed the USA Patriot Act (Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism) in 2001 just weeks after the attacks, with the intention of helping law enforcement act more effectively in investigating potential terrorists. However, this act may do more harm than good. Some groups, such as the American Library Association, state that the act infringes on Fourth Amendment rights guaranteed to us in the Constitution. Others, however, say that the legislation will help protect citizens from potential terrorist attacks.

There are significant flaws in the Patriot Act, flaws that threaten your fundamental freedoms by giving the government the power to access to your medical records, tax records, information about the books you buy or borrow without probable cause, and the power to break into your home and conduct secret searches without telling you for weeks, months, or indefinitely.

There are several sections in the act all allowing for different reasons and ways to

investigate the personal lives of American citizens. What is Section 215? Section 215

allows the FBI to order any person or entity to turn over "any tangible things," so long as

the FBI "specifies" that the order is "for an authorized investigation to protect against

international terrorism or clandestine intelligence activities." Section 215 vastly expands

the FBI's power to spy on ordinary people living in the United States, including United

States citizens and permanent residents.

The FBI need not show probable cause, nor even reasonable grounds to believe,

that the person whose records it seeks is engaged in criminal activity. The FBI need not

have any suspicion that the subject of the investigation is a foreign power or agent of a

foreign power. The FBI can investigate United States persons based in part on their

exercise of First Amendment rights, and it can investigate non-United States persons

based solely on their exercise of First Amendment rights.

For example, the FBI could spy on a person because they don't like the books she

reads, for because they don't like the web sites she visits. They could spy on her because

she wrote a letter to the editor that criticized government policy. Those served with

Section 215 orders are prohibited from disclosing the fact to anyone else. Those who are

the subjects of the surveillance are never notified that their privacy has been

compromised.

If the government had been keeping track of what books a person had been

reading, or what web sites she had been visiting, the person would never know. So, is

this constitutional ? Normally, the government cannot effect a search without obtaining a

warrant and showing probable cause to believe that the person has committed or will

commit a crime.

Section 215 violates the Fourth Amendment by allowing the government to effect

Fourth Amendment searches without a warrant

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