The Patriot Act Essay

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Immediately after the September 11, 2001 attacks, President George Bush was able to push one of the most controversial acts through Congress. This act is called the U.S.A. P.A.T.R.I.O.T Act; which stands for “Uniting and Strengthening American by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism.” This act focused on giving “...federal officials greater authority to track and intercept communications, both for law enforcement and foreign intelligence-gathering purposes...” (Oliver, 2007, p. 68). Of course, a major concern then (and to this day) is that it impedes on civil liberties. Which brings up the question, how much civil liberty are you willing to give up for security?
The most controversial title of the Patriot Act is Title II. This …show more content…
Obviously, law enforcement was limited in its’ role in fight terrorism. After this act, law enforcement is able to “...information when looking into the full range of terrorism-related crimes, including: chemical-weapons offenses, the use of weapons of mass destruction, killing Americans abroad, and terrorism financing...” (The USA PATRIOT Act: Preserving Life and Liberty ).
Another title of the Patriot Act is Title VII. This title focused on the creation of new terrorism crimes and their punishments. To be more specific, these crimes include “...federal crimes for terrorists attacks on mass transportation facilities, for biological weapons offenses, for harboring terrorists, for providing terrorists material support, for misconduct associated with money laundering...for conducting the affairs of an enterprise that affects interstate or foreign commerce through the patterned commission of terrorist offenses...” (Oliver, 2007, p.

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