Critics do not agree: either the provisions are not doing enough or they go too far and infringe upon civil liberties and First Amendment rights. The Patriot Act has been cloaked in controversy almost since its inception, with parties on both sides of the debate claiming that the measures within the act lean to one extreme or the other. Critics say Patriot Act weakened privacy rights by allowing government access without probable cause For example, the act provided for the establishment of alternative maximum sentences for acts of terrorism and raised the penalty for conspiracy to perpetrate an act of terrorism against the United States. Typically, the act supplemented existing laws and increased the penalties connected to them. The definitions of crimes, such as terrorist attacks on mass transportation facilities, biological weapons offenses, the harboring of terrorists, and assisting terrorists with material or financial support, have found specific delineation within the law.Īlthough these “new” crimes-and the penalties that attach to them-had been addressed in prior legislation, the Patriot Act comprises a single legislative repository wherein terrorism and terror-related activities are addressed. Its passage has resulted in new procedures and penalties to combat domestic and international terrorism. The impact of the Patriot Act has been both immediate and far-reaching. One example of the federal government’s extensive reach involved its controversial seizure of telephone and cell phone records from telephone companies without being required to show reasonable suspicion or probable cause. Law enforcement agencies are empowered with the means to conduct secret searches, surveillance of telephone and Internet communications, and acquisition of individuals’ private records (including medical and student records) without probable cause for the purpose of intelligence-gathering. Patriot Act expanded government authority to conduct secret searches and surveillance borders, and cut off financial resources utilized by terrorists and terrorist organizations. borders to foreign terrorists, detain and remove terrorists already within U.S. The act and its ancillaries aid federal authorities in their efforts to close off U.S. In addition, executive orders and related legislation have further expanded federal power in the fight against terrorism. The Patriot Act, by amending old legislation and incorporating new provisions, has expanded greatly the authority of federal officials. Bush signed the bill into law on October 26, 2001. The Senate agreed on the changes the following day, with just one dissenting vote and one nonvoting member. The House passed a “clean” bill on October 24, 2001, which both incorporated and resolved differences between the House and Senate measures. Senate passage occurred on October 11, 2001, and House passage occurred the next day. The act passed through Congress with widespread support.
The bill that emerged in Congress - Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001 - is commonly known as the Patriot Act. Patriot Act was meant to help deter future terrorist attacksįollowing the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks the federal government moved swiftly to respond, taking steps to avoiding a repeat of the atrocities and implementing preemptive measures against those suspected of having connections to terrorist groups both inside and outside the United States. Met initially with strong support, the USA Patriot Act has since garnered criticism on the grounds that, in the fight against terrorism, it treads heavily on citizens’ civil liberties and First Amendment rights. It provides law enforcement with investigatory tools for the purpose of deterring and punishing acts of terrorism within the United States and abroad. The act gives federal officials sweeping and expanded authority to track and intercept communications for law enforcement and intelligence-gathering purposes. The USA Patriot Act of 2001 was passed just 45 days after the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, D.C. (AP Photo/ William Kratzke, used with permission from the Associated Press) But the law also has come under scrutiny for incursions into the First Amendment liberties of Americans.
Just 45 days after the terrorist attacks, Congress passed the Patriot Act, giving federal authorities new power to intercept communications for the purpose of deterring and punishing terrorism. In an unprecedented show of terrorist horror, the 110 story towers collapsed in a shower of rubble and dust after 2 hijacked airliners carrying scores of passengers slammed into them. A plane approaches New York's World Trade Center moments before it struck the tower at left, as seen from downtown Brooklyn Sept.
0 kommentar(er)
