Patriot_Act

Patriot Act Group Debate Essay Privacy – Surveillance In response to the September 11, 2001 attacks, The USA PATRIOT Act was quickly developed as a means by which the government could hope to put an end to terrorism. USA Patriot is an acronym for "Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism"--an elaborate acronym for a lengthy document (the Patriot Act is nearly 350+ pages long). President Bush signed it into law on October 26, 2001, after it received little congressional review or debate. Giving almost unlimited anti-privacy powers to domestic law enforcement and international intelligence agencies, PATRIOT virtually eliminates checks and balances that previously gave courts the opportunity to ensure that those powers were not abused. Therefore, the Patriot Act threatens the basic liberties and freedoms of millions of Americans, and the courts can do little in helping them to keep them. With seemingly unlimited authority, the federal government can target and spy on any American citizen by using surveillance equipment (Sec. 214 “authority to use wiretap/pen register/trap and trace equipment). Most commonly, the federal government may use wire-tapping devices on a citizen’s telephone lines. Title II of the Patriot Act outlines this in it’s policy on enhanced patriot, act, government, american, section, rights, bush, law, freedom, citizens, authority, against, surveillance, states, sec, privacy, place, outlined, oath, information, individual’s, federal, bill, administration, warrants, warrant, voice-mail, usa, unlimited, terrorist, terrorism, taking, signed, shall, seizure, sections