The Societal Implication of USA PATRIOT Act - Research Paper Example

USA PATRIOT Act The USA PATRIOT Act is a legislation that was formulated to improve the ability of the US to curb terroristattacks on home soil. The Patriot Act has led to serious societal implications. It has enhanced security by granting security agencies more power to gather intelligence. It has led to unfair profiling, physical abuse and other forms of human rights abuse. Balancing security needs and individual rights is necessary. The effectiveness of the patriot act relies on the way law enforcement officers treat suspects. Keywords: patriot act, intelligence, terrorism Introduction The USA PATRIOT Act is a legislation that followed immediately after the 9/11 terror attack on American soil (Casman, 2011p. 51). Previously, the US government had focused on fighting terror by confronting nations abroad and supported other countries to fight terror within their borders. The 9/11 terror attack exposed a major weakness in the ability of the government to fight terror. In responses, the Congress came up with a law that extended the ability of government to obtain intelligence, improved information sharing between security agencies and enhance relationships between law enforcement agencies (Litt, 2013 p. 313). The question whether the legislation has been effective or not is not much of a concern in this paper. The paper seeks to analyze the societal implication of USA PATRIOT Act and other legislation that put a cap on the daily movements of people. It looks at concerns related to race, the impact of technology and influence of both international and domestic tourism. Societal Implications of USA PATRIOT Act and Similar Legislature The USA PATRIOT Act has strong implications for the essential freedoms, ethnicity, and religion. The legislation has a directly attacked the civil liberties that had been part of the American society for many years. The legislation gave the security agencies the permission spy on people’s lives without permission. It gives law agencies the power to search homes, financial records and other information on the suspicion that one is involved in terrorism (The USA PATRIOT Act:: Impact on the Arab and Muslim American Community, 2004 p. 9). The presentation of proof is not mandatory. A search can be done bases on suspicion. There has been concern among civil rights activist that the act threatens the civil liberties upon which the United States of America was found. The Act has given the government too much power to access private records in the name of fighting terrorism. There has been fears that the government can listen to private issues through tapping of phones. The government has the power to search one’s financial records and accounts without one’s knowledge. These fears have been allayed by civil rights organizations who are concerned with the power that the legislation grants to law enforcement agencies and the judiciary (Litt, 2013 p. 314). It should be noted that the introduction of the USA PATRIOT Act has made many people feel safe against terror attacks. The 9/11 attack left many American citizens in fear of attacks terror attacks. It was a time when Americans did not feel safe in their homes because the monster that is known has terror had been brought back home. In effect, many people welcomed the opportunity to grant the government the opportunity to curb domestic and international terrorism by giving it more power to gather intelligence. It should be noted that one of the reasons cited for the 9/11 attack was the lack of adequate intelligence. Some of the proponents of the Patriot Act believe that one has nothing to worry about if they are not hiding anything illegal. The most important thing is that the surveillance can help in identifying people who are working with terrorists to compromise the safety of Americans. A deeper understanding of the societal implications of the USA PATRIOT Act can be understood by analyzing the issues that have been mentioned about race, ethnicity, gender and religion in relation to the practices demonstrated by law enforcement agencies. The other issues of concern are the need to balance between public safety and individual rights. Understanding the impact of national and domestic terrorism will help shed light on why the government has taken such measures on security. Race, Ethnicity, Gender, Age, and Religion Concerns The USA PATRIOT Act has been questioned for taking away the fundamental of rights of immigrants in the United States. The law allows the government to detain immigrants on the suspicion of being involved in terrorism. There have reports indicating that law agencies have been harsh on Asians, Muslims, and Arab Americans. A report from the Justice Department lists Muslims and American Arabs as the people who have complained of being mistreated because of the new law. Muslims and Arabs have reported being beaten and abused on the pretext that they are suspected terrorists. In addition, financial institutions have increased the frequency of blacklisting Muslims. These financial institutions use the patriot act to justify their actions. In some incidents, the form of treatment administered to terror suspects by law enforcement officers has drawn sharp reactions from law enforcement officers. The patriot act is a justification for treating people differently based on race and religion (The USA PATRIOT Act: Impact on the Arab and Muslim American Community, 2004 p. 4). The ambiguities in the interpretation of the Patriot Act have led to mistreatment by law enforcement officers. Incidents of airport profiling based on religion, race or country of origin are not strange in the United States. Cases of physical and verbal harassments have been reported in many airports across the country. The belief that terrorists are mostly Muslims or Arabs has led to neighbors spying on each other. Immediately after the 9/11 attacks the level of hate crimes against Muslims and Arabs rose in the country. The Department of Justice has endeavored to bring to book all the people apprehended committing hate crimes, which is a great gesture. However, the problems lie with the government policy in the form of the Patriot Act, which seems to justify profiling people base on religion, race or physical features. The trust that Arab Americans and Muslims have on the law enforcement agencies has reduced because they fear being branded as terrorists. History has shown that when the administrative laws succeed in creating an ‘enemy group’ then it becomes easy to violate human rights without remorse. It becomes easy to justify detentions without a real charge, physical abuse and other drastic actions that need to be taken to fight ‘the enemy’. The Alien and Seditions Act 1798 restricted the ethnic groups that were allowed to apply for citizenship. Another example from history is the Chinese Exclusion Act that prevented Chinese laborers entering the United States. The laws that have been mentioned did not enhance the security of the United States. The USA PATRIOT Act seems to have created an enemy and use the enemy to justify abuse the rights of Americans found in the First and Fourth Amendment of the United States of America Constitution (Salem, 2013 p. 77). The Patriot Act has a direct influence on the way Muslims and Arabs are treated in airports, banks, and other activities. Law enforcement officers take scrutiny as their responsibility while the Muslims and Arab Americans see it as a form of harassment. The patriot act provides the justification for the many law enforcement officers and government officers to treat American citizens with disrespect. Something should be done to handle the concerns that have been raised concerning prejudice based on race and religion. These concerns threaten to divide the American society. They go against the founding principles embedded in the Constitution. Impact of Technology and Globalization Technology and globalization have made it easy for people to move across continents and communicate. Technology and globalization have served as threats and assets in issues related to enhancing public safety. Technology and globalization facilitate the ability of terrorists and criminals to operate without being noticed by security agencies. On the same note, the same factors have enhanced the ability of security agencies to gather intelligence both on the domestic and international level. Security agencies have been compelled to resort to extreme measures to ensure public safety because of the advantages that terrorist and criminals gain from globalization and technology. The USA PATRIOT Act is a piece of legislation that acknowledges the need to set up measures to keep security agencies ahead in a war that has been redefined by advancements in technology. Based on the content of the act, it is clear that public safety is more important than individual rights. The clause on surveillance and intelligence gives security agencies the power to tap into phone conservations, access financial records and any other personal information of anyone suspected of disrupting public safety. The greater good theory states that the needs of the many outweighs the needs of the few. Therefore, it is not wrong for law enforcement agencies to employ extreme measures like spying, physical abuse, detention to protect public safety. It questions the work of the government in protecting the individual rights of the citizens. Casman (2011, p. 5) argues that it is necessary for individuals to give up certain rights for the government to guarantee security. A social contract between a person and his/her government includes given the government the consent to limit certain civil liberties. The patriot act does not take individual rights but limits them. It allows the government to take precedence if it is necessary to help improve public safety. Balancing public safety and the rights of individuals is essential because of the repercussions of the government having too much power. The US constitution emphasizes many individual rights, which is why it is defined as a democratic nation. The lack of balance between security needs and individual rights erodes the values of democracy that are found in the constitution. For example, it is not right for law enforcement officers to physically or verbally abuse suspects based on the fact the premise of promoting public safety. The lack of balance between individual rights and the enhancement of public safety is one of the reasons why many people and groups have criticized the Patriot Act. Influence of Domestic and International Terrorism Terrorism has been a headache for security agencies both at the international and domestic levels. Terrorism at the international level has been the cause of the collaboration among nations to exterminate terrorist groups. International terrorism has positively influenced sharing of foreign intelligence between nations because it presents a common enemy (Litt, 2013 p. 315). It has caused the loss of countless lives. Some wars are directly related to international terrorism. For example, the real reasons behind Iraq and Afghanistan wars boil down to the fight against terrorism on an international level. Domestic terrorism is what drives the war on international terrorism. For example, the United States supports other countries in the war on terrorism to avoid having the same terrorists attacking US citizens. The fight against domestic terrorism is difficult because the terrorists camouflage among the people. In response, the government agencies have stepped efforts by increasing their ability to gather intelligence. The Department of Homeland Security is a fitting example of an outfit that was created to improve the effectiveness of security agencies in detecting and thwarting terror attacks at home. All law enforcement agencies are obligated to share information with Homeland. It has helped in information sharing, which has improved the ability of government agencies to fight domestic terrorism. Domestic tourism has also increased the number of organizations that have opted for private security. Private security is considered efficient because they can focus on one thing, which is keeping the company safe from any of terror attack. Reliance on private security is because of the perceived weaknesses of government security agencies in responding to attacks swiftly. Some corporations hire private security because they do not want the government to access their records. Hiring private security means the company can thwart attacks without the having to expose confidential information to government agencies. Conclusion In conclusion, the USA PATRIOT Act has both positive and negative implications for the society (Colby, Sowers, & Dulmus, 2008 p.108). It has helped in enhancing security through gathering intelligence to help detect and thwart terrorist attacks. It is a fact that terrorists can use American citizens to plan attacks, which means that surveillance helps in detecting any plan for an attack. On the downside, the Patriot has facilitated physical abuse and harsh treatment of certain groups by law enforcement agencies. It has limited some of the civil liberties granted to American citizens. The best balance between public safety and individual rights can be established by law enforcement officers and government officials. They should practice caution when dealing with suspects. Spying should be supported by valid suspicion. References Casman, B. S. (2011). The Right to Privacy in Light of the Patriot Act and Social Contract Theory. Las Vegas: UNLV Theses/Dissertation/Professional Papes/ Capstones. Colby, I. C., Sowers, K. M., & Dulmus, C. N. (2008). Comprehensive handbook of social work and social welfare. / Volume 4, Social policy, and policy practice. Hoboken, N. J.: John Wiley & Sons. Litt, R. S. (2013). Privacy, Technology and National Security. Vital Speeches of the Day, 79(10), 313-321. Salem, J. M. (2013). Citizenship and Religious Expression in the West: A Comparative Analysis of Experiences of Muslims in France, Germany, and the USA. Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs, 33(1), 77-92. Doi:10.1080/13602004.2013.791189 The USA PATRIOT Act: Impact on the Arab and Muslim American Community (2004). Michigan: Institute for Social Policy and Understanding. Read More