Criminal Law: The USA Patriot Act - Essay Example

Criminal Law Criminal Law The USA Patriot Act is one of the most crucial anti-terrorism legislation in the United States. President Bush signed the Act on October 26, 2001 following the historical terrorist attack in the United States on September 11, 2001 (Ball, 2004). Although violating civil rights of those who inhabit the untied states, the Patriot Act remains a crucial tool for fighting terrorism in the country. The law has speeded up the rate at which criminal investigations are performed, both directly and indirectly connected with terrorism.

The law has created the opportunity for the federal government to pursue and pressure criminals and terrorists this is one of the effective ways of ejecting criminals including drug dealers and terrorists among others out of their cocoons. Because the Patriot Act is not just confined to the pursuit of terrorists, its focus on other areas of crime makes it an effective tool in dealing with crime in general. The government needs no court approval to summon a suspected computer or internet criminal.

In the age of technology, with no effective anti-crime legislation such as the Patriot Act, society is bound to crumble as criminals take control. Because the Patriot Act overrides the civil rights of individuals, the government is at liberty to obtain information about suspected individuals thus it is in a position to uncover and apprehend risky individuals. The act creates the possibility of aborting terrorists’ plans before they are executed, thus making it an effective tool for fighting terrorism.

Though the Act is effective, the government should come up with an initiative in which every individual is expected to know at least ten neighbors and report any strange behavior of their neighbors as soon as they notice.