The Patriot Act and the Constitution

8 Pages 1947 Words

The Patriot Act is a major step forward in combating terrorists that threaten the United States of America, but at the same time, if abused, could threaten the liberties we have enjoyed for so long. The Patriot Act was signed into law by the President of The United States on October 26th 2001. The act was passed with little debate from the congress or the senate. The act gives the federal government greater authority to track and intercept communications of all kinds, to include phone conversations, fax, e-mail, and web browsing to name a few. The information gathered can be used to produce intelligence products or for law enforcement officials to build cases against would be terrorists. It vests the Secretary of the Treasury with new powers to combat money laundering to make it easier for the government to freeze the assets of terrorist organizations or organizations that sponsor terrorism as they try to move money through the country to finance cells within and outside of our borders. Many believe the act has gone to far and has infringed on our basic constitutional rights, while others believe the act doesn’t go far enough. Next, I will discuss the main points of the act and then present each sides argument for and against the Patriot Act.
The federal communications privacy laws are duel purposed. First, they protect the privacy of telephone conversations, face-to-face, and computer digital communications. Second, they enable law enforcement officials to identify and intercept criminal communications. Secret wire taps and communications intercept require the approval of Justice Department officials and the guidelines for using information obtained during intercept are very narrow (Doyle, 2002). The act modifies procedures for these laws to include, permitting pen register and trap and traces orders for electronic communications such as e-mail, authorizes nationwide execution of court orders for pen registers, trap and...