National Security Letter

upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized”(“Bill of Rights”). Another way the FBI can get gain the records is by using a National Security letter, which allows the FBI to request records without a court order (“USA PATRIOT Act, Section 215”). By skipping over the court a step of the checks and balances is eliminated, and the warrant is not checked to see if there is actually is a probable cause. Once the warrant is gained, or the National Security letter sent, the government has access to the personal records of an American citizen. The warrants are not the only issue regarding infringement of American citizen’s constitutional rights though, another issue is that the records that are able to be gained are considered private and are protected by the fourth amendment. The fourth amendment which protects “ the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures,” is violated by the government now having access to your private records (“Bill of Rights”). One of the things that the government has access to is the bank records of the person they have a warrant or National Security Letter for. Within your bank records they can see what you have purchased, when you made a transaction, what kind of transaction you made, how much you made the transaction for, and more. They also require the banks to inform the…

Under the act, law enforcement seeks to become sort of preventative measure. It’s no longer acting retrospectively. By changing law from being retroactive to more proactive approach, government is no longer looking for criminals after the fact, but are now engaged in some sort of guessing game based upon predictions about what they individuals might do, and not what they have done. And according to Law Professor David Cole, many innocents will suffer without any gain in security, while…

gaining power and control over what others believe and think (6). Parents challenge literary works because the teaching contained in the books are against their belief. On the other hand, governments hold back information from their citizens under the disguise of protecting national interest. This in turn adds more power and control over their citizens’. For example, in the U.S., according to one estimate during the past 25 years the government has classified between 7.5 to 8 billion pages of…

doing this by violating the company's (and therefore its employee's) first amendment right to speak to their customers (blog.microsoft.com) and remain transparent. This transparency is in the customer's best interest, and is the most ethical action in the situation. This is the core reason why the lawsuit is happening in the first place. One issue with the secrecy orders attached to the data share orders is that if it were more widely known, it would virtually eradicate all trust in the “cloud”…

I will be talking about the Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism, also known as the USA PATRIOT ACT, how it protects the American people and allows law enforcement to protect us, as well as the event which led to the bill being passed and the impact and controversy it has on the American people. I both approve and disapprove of the PATRIOT ACT because although the bill was passed in order to protect us with good intentions.…

USA-PATRIOT ACT on American Society Dung Pham Valencia College This paper was prepared for U.S Government course taught by Professor Michaela Fazecas “Why are there so many recording devices on the street?” Has this kind of question ever crossed your mind? Have you ever asked yourself when you have to take off your shoes and electrical devices and step into a scanning box at the airport? The answer is the Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools to Intercept and…

An act where the government can provide higher security for our country. An act that further protects Americans. The Patriot act strengthens and improves America by providing the appropriate tools to intercept terrorism in America. Providing America with the maximum security and doing everything to protect us from events such as 9/11 from happening again, is the governments goal with placing the Patriot Act. The one reason many Americans oppose the Patriot act is because of its little success.…

a larger amount of terrorist attacks then we actually had. The Patriot Act has helped monitor foreign communications, as well as electronic communications in America. This act was created in response to the tragedy that happened on September 11th, 2001 at the World Trade Center in New York. As of December 2011 the Patriot Act has prevented over 42 terrorist attacks on American soil, that’s about ten attacks per year (Fox 19 Now)! 9/11 showed America that they aren’t the safe and protected nation…

fall under the Espionage act section 793 (d) and section 798 (a)(3). These two sections respectively prohibit Unauthorized Communication of National Defense Information, namely “intentionally communicating national defense information to unauthorized persons if one has reason to believe the information could hurt the US or…

Russia and is still releasing classified documents. Since the most recent documents have been released, the NSA has not only been listening and intercepting personal information and calls from Americans, but they also have been spying on other countries. Many people feel that Edward Snowden has overstepped boundaries. One of the biggest controversies is that with the latest documents that were released, citizens are now being informed that, “The U.S. government has not only been spying on its…