Political science 2 question paper on civil right and civil liberties - Essay Example

een trampled upon by the USA Patriot Act of 2001 (a contrived acronym meaning Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism), established in the aftermath of September 11th to protect Americans from the threat of future terror on American soil. Controversial from the outset, the Patriot Act represented a serious departure from established legal norms and prior American jurisprudence with respect to civil liberty legislation (ACLU 2008).

Following an analysis of the Patriot Act, this brief essay will explore the key motivations behind the U.S. Civil Rights Movement by exploring those who fought institutionalized racism and discrimination during the latter half of the twentieth century. We now turn to the most important challenge to civil rights and liberties in this country, the US Patriot Act and its effects on the right to privacy, freedom of assembly and due process in the 21st century. Created under the pretense of securing the United States against the threat of terror in the wake of 9/11, the Patriot Act of 2001 significantly strengthened the scope of powers afforded to law enforcement agencies while redefining the term terrorism to include domestic terror, i.e. homegrown terror perpetuated by American citizens.

Accordingly, this Act significantly sought to redefine the rights of law enforcement vis-à-vis the rights and liberties of the American public.This Act increased the powers of law enforcement agencies to gain access to previously protected forms of communication include telephone conversations, email, financial, medical, business and other private recorder. Additional powers relate to the surveillance and detention of immigrants and broad powers of detention are given to law enforcement agencies with respect to immigrants in the United States.

Major criticisms of the USA Patriot act are leveled at the fact that this particular piece of legislation tramples over civil liberties and