USA Patriot Act 2001 - Essay Example

? USA Patriot Act 2001 No: Roll No: USA Patriot Act 2001 The tragic incident of 11th September, 2001 in the history of United States of America is recorded as an unforgettable event which claimed around 2800 lives of the Americans. Soon after this gory incident, the former president, Mr. George W. Bush announced “War on Terror.” Resultantly the USA Patriot Act of 2001 came into being. The citizens of America rightly demanded their democratic government to take immediate remedial measures for their safety and security. Hence, to weed out terrorism / breeding grounds of terrorism wherever it is found around the world so that such ugly situation may not engulf the United of States of America or other allies in the world. The mentioned act was approved by both the houses of peoples representatives i.e. Senate and the House of Representative on 26th October, 2001 (Whitehead & Aden, 2002). The previously mentioned act empowered law enforcement agencies / intelligence agencies to track out terrorist net work aims at to gather maximum information about their activities. This enables cited agencies to deal with the terrorist with iron hands. The concerned authorities of USA taking into account the increasing terrorist activities reviewed and amended the money-laundering act accordingly to stop flow of funds to such organization who promotes terrorism to accomplish their nefarious designs. So far, the action taken by the United States of America is to ban such organization as well as freezing of their funds in connivance with the countries that are in league with America against war on terror (Whitehead & Aden, 2002). The strict American Laws make it impossible for a suspected terrorist to enter in the US for sabotaging the national assets / endangering the life of common citizens. The new act enhanced the capability of law enforcement / intelligence agencies to fight terrorism in an effective manner (Whitehead & Aden, 2002). The patriot act in fact provides protection to American people against domestic and foreign terrorism. It describes the official version of domestic terrorism. According to which any person who have ill intention to harm human life falls under the ambit of above act. Hence, by virtue of this act, law enforcement and intelligence agencies may obtain search warrant from federal judge wherever terror related activities are found on the surface. This is an easy way to investigate the matter by streamlining and exchanging communication between agencies (Ball, 2004). However, the act in question specifically focuses on the surveillance of terrorism activities in order to prevent international terrorism. In case terrorist caught red handed, an exemplary punishment should be awarded to him to deter others. He / she should be tried in a competent court of law for punishment in accordance with law. The use of modern gadgets in promoting domestic / international terrorism cannot be ignored (Doyle, 2001). The policy makers while drafting policy must take into account the rights of citizens that have conferred to them by the constitution and the bills of rights. American policy makers must respect the Constitution to protect American rights. It protects the rights of every citizen irrespective of their cost, creed and profession, whether he / she are a part timer or full time policy makers who enjoy the benefits of given rights even in the war time (Ball, 2004). After the act of terrorism on the mentioned date of the year 2001, Mr. Bush sought unbridled power as president of USA to summon reserve forces to face the war like situation. As a result of this act, liberties of American people have been taken away to meet the eventualities and to fight terrorism. By enactment of this act, power of law enforcement agencies / intelligence agencies gave unchecked powers to investigate the suspected terrorist in a brutal manner, which amounts to flagrant violation of human rights (Doyle, 2001). The Bush administration reconsidered terrorism act to include regular domestic criminal acts in the year 2003. With the blessings of above act, Central Intelligence Agency comes under the direct command of domestic intelligence gathering. The Patriot Act badly hampered due to 1st, 4th and 5th amendments of the Constitution. The 1st amendment took away the rights of free speech.  The 4th amendment provides protection against unreasonable search and confiscation of articles that are in the possession of the citizen at the time of search. Above-mentioned violations can be termed as the violation of individual rights within the purview of Patriot Act. The Agencies are empowered to search home or business premises of a suspect person. The absolute powers given to the concerned agencies remain unfiltered and unchecked due to lack of accountability (Wong, 2006).        It is evident from the above details that the act in fact drafted and approved by the law makers just to protect Americans from the act of terrorism. The lack of accountability for implementation of this law is a point to ponder. The relevant documents released by the highest court of the country in the year 2006 shows the intention of the government and its desire to protect Act. The documents reveal attempts of concerned authorities to censor citation of the Supreme Court cases heard earlier (Wong, 2006). As per the apex court of USA, documents cannot be held back from its publication, once it was published since public property. Any attempt to alter the Supreme Court’s document under the garb of national security is not acceptable. The existing Act and its lack of accountability make Americans to believe that it is in fact withdrawal of their liberty. The founding fathers of the Constitution were the Champion of the Champions of Human rights. For them, it is a matter of life and death for them. Therefore, surrendering human rights as enshrined in the constitution, whatever the circumstances are, acceptable (Ball, 2004). The Patriot Act came under fire from various quarters since its inception. The opposition vociferously opposing the act since it was passed quickly / hurriedly and after a little debate soon after the debacle of 11th September, 2001. Keeping in mind the situation of that time, perhaps the act was passed in haste with little amendments. It is alleged by the American Senator Jim McDermott that before its passage no law maker bother to review the act minutely before its promulgation.  In view the considered opinion of “The Electronic Privacy Information Center”, the law is unconstitutional since private communication exchanged between two or more law abiding American citizens may be intercepted by the agencies incidentally / illegally (Wong, 2006). However, the act permits access to voicemail by way of search warrant issued by a federal judge. They are of the opinion that amendment is a clear violation of the 4th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Prior to that, if FBI listened to voicemail illegally, it could not be produced as evidence against the alleged defendants in the court of law. The law actually authorized the police to invade home but not to frustrate the more private voicemail. In accordance with the opinion of Professor Kerr's the USA Patriot Act was practical and reasonable to combat terrorism and to make this world a safe haven for the law-abiding citizens (Kerr, 2005). References Ball, Howard. (2004). USA Patriot Act of 2001: Balancing Civil Liberties and National Security. California: ABC-CLIO, Inc. Doyle, Charles. (2001). Terrorism: Section by Section Analysis. CRS Report for Congress. of the USA PATRIOT Act. Retrieved on November 27, 2011 from http://fpc.state.gov/documents/organization/7952.pdf Kerr, Orin. (2005). Reply: Sections 209, 212, and 220. Access to Wire and Electronic Communications. Retrieved on November 26, 2011 from http://apps.americanbar.org/natsecurity/patriotdebates/209-212-and-220-2 Whitehead, John W and Aden, Stephen H. (2002). Forfeiting “Enduring Freedom” for “Homeland Security”: A Constitutional Analysis of The USA PATRIOT Act and the Justice Department’s Anti-Terrorism. Retrieved on November 26, 2011 from: http://www.wcl.american.edu/journal/lawrev/51/correctedaden.pdf?rd=1 Wong, Kam C. (2006). "The making of the USA PATRIOT Act I: Legislative Process and Dynamics". International Journal of the Sociology of Law 34 (3): 179–219. Read More