Patriot Act Pros And Cons Essay

October 26,2001, just a little bit over a year after the most infamous terrorist attacks on the US, the USA PATRIOT Act was signed into law by President George W. Bush. The expanded full title is “Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Require to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001.” This act quickly caused controversy and sparked many debates about national security and civil liberties because it created legislative changes which significantly increased the surveillance and investigative powers of law enforcement agencies in the United States without providing a system of checks and balances to safeguard civil liberties. The only Senator to oppose the Act, was Russ Feingold. When asked about his opposition to the bill he said “Now here is where my caution in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks and my concerns over the reach of the anti-terrorism bill come together. To …show more content…
It won't be immigrants from El Salvador or Nicaragua. It won't even be immigrants from Haiti or Africa. It will be immigrants from Arab, Muslim and South Asian countries. In the wake of these terrible events out government has been given vast new powers and they may fall most heavily on a minority of our population who already feel particularly acutely the pain of this disaster.” (Feingold, 2001 ) The PATRIOT ACT violates the peoples Fourth Amendment which protects "the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures . . .." by allowing the government to create an entire organization dedicated to essentially spying on the population of the United States, as well as creating several legal loopholes that allow the involved agencies to delay notification of a search or seizure. One of the redeeming qualities of the PATRIOT Act is the sunset provision which on December 31, 2005 terminated several of the amendments enhancing electronic surveillance