Patriot Act Case Study

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Having drawn many of its founding values from John Locke’s social contract theory, the American government holds the responsibility of protecting its citizens at all costs – but to what extent? From the beginnings of the War on Terror in 2001, the American government has enacted multiple policies that have overstepped its legislative and executive boundaries, supposedly under the guise of protecting the American public from the grasps of terrorism. This was seen in the creation of the PATRIOT Act. This was a law that encroached on the rights of the American people and contributed to the deterioration of the normative ideals the United States was founded on. Having been, in essence, revised by the Freedom Act signed into law on June 2, 2015, …show more content…
For example, the Patriot Act didn’t stop Richard Reid from trying to carry out his attack; instead, his shoe bombs didn’t detonate (Swann). Similarly, the Patriot Act played no role in stopping the Christmas day underwear bomber – instead, he was tackled by other flight passengers when his bomb failed to go off (Swann). In addition, the Patriot Act was unable to foil Major Nadal Hassan’s successful shooting at Fort Hood (Swann). Having been ineffective in foiling these terroristic plans in the past, the Patriot Act seems to have little effect on the risk of terrorism in the United States; instead, it seems to function only as a violation of Americans’ civil liberties by collecting information about …show more content…
This past June, the Patriot Act expired, and the Freedom Act was signed into law (USA). In an attempt to resolve its predecessor’s encroachment on civil liberties, the Freedom Act supposedly aims to end the bulk collection of data and prevent government overreach (USA). In addition, the Freedom Act’s measures are supposedly designed to improve transparency – something the Patriot Act lacked – and strengthen national security (USA). While part of the population considers this to be a step in the right direction, other audiences see the Freedom Act to be even worse than its predecessor. Like the Patriot Act, only time may help America determine whether or not the Freedom Act is worth an intrusion on the entire population’s civil

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