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in the wake of 9/11 President George W
Bush and his administration acted
swiftly to expand government
surveillance powers but the measure was
almost instantly controversial the
terrorist organization al Qaeda
coordinated for attacks on major US
landmarks in total two thousand nine
hundred and ninety six people were
killed on 9/11 it was the most fatal
attack on US soil since Pearl Harbor in
response President George W Bush and his
administration proposed a new law called
the USA PATRIOT Act or the Uniting and
strengthening America by providing
appropriate tools required to intercept
and obstruct Terrorism Act the Patriot
Act received overwhelming bipartisan
support from Congress in the Senate the
bill was passed almost unanimously 96 to
1 in the house it was passed 357 to 66
on October 25th 2001 the USA PATRIOT Act
was signed into law without any
amendments
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for a bill that passed so quickly it was
very long and very dense few lawmakers
read it in full before they voted for
the law was also full of controversy and
quickly became the subject of a lot of
criticism and debate many went so far as
to call it unconstitutional the Patriot
Act included all kinds of new rules and
amendments particularly ones about
surveillance and national security
it included amendments to the wiretap
act this let police obtain court orders
to spy and eavesdrop on suspected cyber
criminals and terrorists by intercepting
their phone calls emails in any other
form of communication
it added credit card and bank account
numbers to a government controlled
database that could be accessed with
court permission it also allowed
government officials to use trap and
trace devices and conduct sneak and peek
searches trap and trace devices can
trace phone calls to individuals and
addresses sneak and peek searches are
searches where officials or police can
break into someone's home or office and
snoop around without their permission in
other words the Patriot Act made it
easier for the FBI to spy on Americans
and search their homes provisions in the
Patriot Act also increased powers to
combat money laundering tripled the
number of Border Patrol custom service
and Immigration and Naturalization
Service personnel along the northern US
border established new terrorism-related
grounds to detain or deport foreign
nationals or deny them entry into the
u.s. in the first place and created a
new list of terrorist crimes but how did
this translate into action people
supporting the Patriot Act argued that
it increased the chances of catching
terrorists by granting more government
access and promoting cooperation between
the CIA and the FBI through information
sharing the argument was often made that
those without terrorist ties would have
nothing to hide from these agencies
since its conception at least 50
terrorist acts have been thwarted but
it's hard to know if that's directly
related to the Patriot Act in actuality
the Patriot Act has done more to catch
drug dealers than terrorists Americans
feel mixed about that
reducing crime across the board is
considered a good thing a priority that
crosses party lines but many Americans
are skeptical of the government using
laws outside of their original attempt
Americans have also criticized the act
for being unconstitutional in particular
they took issue with section 215 for
violating the Fourth Amendment the
protection against unlawful searches and
seizures by permitting warrantless
searches people also questioned section
505 which allowed the government to
impose gag orders as well as investigate
people based on their speech many saw
this as a direct violation of our First
Amendment rights others went on to
criticize the acts implicit promotion of
racial profiling the American Civil
Liberties Union or ACLU along with
several US senators took legal action
against the Patriot Act in 2004 judges
struck some key provisions ruling them
unconstitutional over the years some
parts of the Patriot Act have expired or
been struck down while others have been
renewed since its inception the Patriot
Act has garnered strong reactions
supporters argue it has allowed
government agencies to cooperate made it
easier to catch criminals and prevent
future terrorist attacks those against
it
see surveillance as dangerous and in
violation of free speech infringing on
the Bill of Rights with unclear results
when it comes to protecting people from
terrorism
so the age-old question remains can
giving up constitutional rights help
keep us safe or does it take away
liberties without giving us added
protection
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