The USA PATRIOT Act also known as the “Patriot Act” is a statute signed by President George W. Bush after the 9/11 attacks in 2001. The USA PATRIOT Act is an acronym for Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001. The Patriot Act increases the authority of law enforcement agencies to search telephone, email communications, medical, financial, and other records of citizens by utilizing electronic surveillance. According to Jonathan White the Patriot Act, “Creates funding for counterterrorist activities, expands technical support for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), expands electronic intelligence-gathering research, and defines presidential authority in response to terrorism.” Another feature of the Patriot Act is it expands the definition of terrorism to include domestic terrorism. Some of the provisions in the Patriot Act were supposed to end after 4 years from the passage of the law, but instead legislators sought to revise certain parts to include the protection of civil liberties. In July 2005 the United States (US) Senate passed a reauthorization bill that included changes of certain sections of the act, but at the same time most of the original language was kept intact. The main controversy over the Patriot Act has been the fact that it infringes the civil liberties of US citizens, and increases the authority of the executive branch.
The most sensitive aspect of the Patriot Act has to do with intelligence gathering and sharing of information according to Jonathan White. Many groups such as constitutional conservatives and civil libertarians are concerned with the fact that the Patriot Act restricts US citizens’ rights to civil liberties. The founding fathers of American democracy created the Bill of Rights and Constitution in order to create a foundation of government based on civil liberties of its citizens. With the Patriot Act increasing the ability of the government to collect information increases the executive branch power, and also infringes on citizens civil liberties. “When the criminal justice and national security agencies gather information about organizations and people, they do so as an extension of the executive branch of government “(Jonathan White). Another problem arises where in the Constitution the three branches of government are separated in order for there to be checks and balances to the amount of power given to each branch. Senator Leahy believes that the passage of the Patriot Act as a counterterrorist measure threatens the system of checks and balance, and gives too much power to the executive branch.
Another controversial issue of the Patriot Act is that it restricts the civil liberties of US citizens. The Patriot Act allows law enforcement agencies such as the FBI have increased abilities to look into the affairs of American citizens. Civil Rights attorney Nancy Chang believes, “By allowing the government to blur the distinction between defense intelligence and criminal evidence, the Patriot Act tramples on reasonable expectations of privacy. The Patriot Act deprives citizens of their 4th Amendment right of privacy, because law enforcement agencies can spy on citizens and define the purpose as a counterterrorist measure.
After the 9/11 attacks the US went into a panic mode and enacted the USA Patriot Act as a means to protect the US from terrorist attacks. But what the Bush administration failed to realize is the effects that the Patriot Act would have on the three branches of government and the American citizens. The Patriot Act has in a way defeated the founding fathers purpose in creating the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. The act has disintegrated the three branches of government, where the executive branch has increased authority and defeats the checks and balance of all three branches. Also the Patriot Act has in a way made American citizens feel like they no longer have a reasonable right to privacy, because government have the right to spy on them on behalf of countering terrorism. Is the USA Patriot Act of 2001 unconstitutional? If presented to our founding fathers for approval would they consider it constitutional?
USA Patriot Act of 2001 document:
http://epic.org/privacy/terrorism/hr3162.html
Spying on the Home Front PBS Video:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/video/flv/generic.html?s=frol02n474q6d
