Theories of Human Rights - Term Paper Example

The problem with the Act stems from the way it was passed into law. The Act was formulated forty-five days after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack. Besides the short period it took to formulate, Congress was given limited time to read and debate the bill. In fact, there are fears that many members of congress did not have enough time to read the document and as such, they might have passed it into law flawed. The hasty way in which this Act was formulated and passed could have been because of fear for another terrorist attack.

Even so, it could also have been used as an avenue to infuse it with undeserved provisions benefitting the government. This hastiness served to entrench the secret ways in which the government uses the Act’s allowances (Smith & Li-Ching 23). There have been cases reported about FBI agents breaking into and searching people’s homes without notice. The violations of rights by the Patriot Act are complicated. Targets of FISA surveillance are not furnished with the contents of the court order that led to their arrest and as such, they lack the grounds to challenge wiretaps and searches done illegally.

This contrasts significantly with a defendant prosecuted under the criminal investigative authority of the government who would be furnished with a copy of the court order. Proponents of the Patriot Act move that as the commander-in-chief, the president should use any means to protect the country from attacks. This argument downplays the fact that the president and the executive are not above the law and the Constitution (Smith & Li-Ching 24). The means they use to protect the country from attacks are supposed to be constrained by the constitution.

Following the subtle implications of Section 218, it is possible that some people who are thought to be against government policies or who are related to foreign powers are unfairly searched and