Essay on the Pros
and Cons of the USA Patriot Act
The USA patriot act was signed into law by
then US President George W. Bush as a direct response to the September 11
attacks on United States soil. This incident was the first large scale
terrorist attack inside the borders of the United States. The last time a
similar attack occurred was when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. Both
incidents pushed the United States to the forefront of wars before it was the
Second World War, now it is the war on terror. Armed with the knowledge that
terrorists were slowly gaining a foothold within United States soil the
government set out to look for these elements. The laws that were present then
to help prosecute these lawless elements were not really helping. In essence
they did were for a more lax society where there were restrictions on against
searches and seizures or even wire tapping. It was signed into law and was
known as the USA PATRIOT Act. The name actually is an acronym that stands for
the first letters of the following: Uniting
and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept
and Obstruct Terrorism (US PATRIOT Act, 2001).
The
more lax restrictions against the aforementioned were just a few of the provisions
of this law. It helped in making the surveillance and arrest of known terrorist
elements easier. That however is not the only side to the USA PATRIOT ACT. The
American Civil Liberties Union raised many concerns against the Act. One of
them is known as the roving wiretap. With the more restrictive laws of the past
a wire tap needed approval for each number. But with the USA PATRIOT ACT that
was not the case anymore. The wire tap could now apply to the person and not
just the number. It allowed them to combat the use of disposable cellphones. The
ACLU on the other hand cries foul and alleges that it could set bad precedents
and it could be used against people who are not suspected terrorists (ACLU,
2010). This is just one of the many issues that arose with USA PATRIOT ACT.
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