The US Congress passed the Patriot Act after the 9/11 attack on the US. The law has since undergone various amendments to make it effective in combatting terrorism. The emergence of various grave and chronicle issues related but not limited to terrorism have been the reason for the amendments of the Act since its inception in 2001 (Ombres, 2015). There was the need for changes to ensure that the Federal agents are given maximum support in their quest to obtain intelligence records from the citizens to enable them to fight terrorism. The checking of individuals' bank records and tapping of phones was seen as a necessary activity to check whether there are any financial transactions that benefit terrorists in the US. As a result, the Patriot Act has been viewed as an effective tool in the war against terror. Its renewal is intended to make the US a safe place for everyone.
Although the Patriot Act was established with a noble purpose of finding and persecuting all the international terrorists operating in the US soil, there have been various unfortunate incidences that have been associated with the Act. Most of the provisions found in the Act amounts to the violation of the US citizen’s constitutional rights. Particularly, the Patriot Act encroaches on the First Amendment rights whose primary purpose is the protection of the people’s freedom of expression (Barron, 2017). Also, the Patriot Act encroaches the Fourth Amendment rights which often protects individuals against unwarranted searches and seizure. With the Patriot Act in place, there exists a climate of distrust and constant fear among the US citizens making it difficult to live a free American lifestyle. Thus, the Patriot Act authorizes various unethical as well as unconstitutional surveillance of individuals in the US but has a negligent improvement on the US national security and should be abolished.
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First, the Patriot Act allows the government to undertake surveillance on all of its citizens including the innocent ones, violating the First Amendment in the process. The First Amendment safeguards the US citizens’ right to free expression thereby protecting individuals from political, religious, and social persecution (Barron, 2017). The legislation does not require sufficient proof that the suspected person did a particular crime before the government agencies are authorized to spy on that person (Deflem & McDonough, 2015). Thus, it is ironical that the Patriot Act does not secure the liberties outlined in the American Constitution while it was established to safeguard the lives of people against attacks (Chang, 2001). In reality, the legislation exposes the US citizens to possible abuses of power and both physical and psychological torture by those in the state agencies such as the FBI. Similarly, the legislation has created an environment where corruption among the government agents, secrecy, and discrimination in the name of safeguarding national security thrives (Chang, 2001). Since the passing of the Act in 2001, it has become painfully obvious that the Patriot Act has drifted America away from being an ideal democratic society towards a society where individual liberties are no longer valued and upheld.
Second, the Patriot Act encroaches the civil rights as outlined under the Fourth Amendment. Surveillance is one of the most controversial provisions provided for in the Act. The US Constitution’s Fourth Amendment protects the rights of individuals to be secure against unreasonable seizures and searches in their homes or in person (Renan, 2016). The Fourth Amendment directs that the state law enforcement officers must obtain a warrant of searches before entering a person's home or spying on any personal information (Renan, 2016). The person under any search must be aware of the same and the officers must produce a sworn statement before a judge specifically describing the person as well as the place to be searched. The law enforcement officer is only given the warrant to conduct a search if the judge finds a probable cause that a particular individual is engaged in criminal activities (Renan, 2016). The results of the search should also be reported back to the court. Although there were exceptions under the federal law even before the inception of the Patriot Act, the current legislation overlooks most of the provisions of the Fourth Amendment. The Patriot Act allows the law enforcement agents to spy people both online and offline without the consent of the court and the individual under surveillance.
Although the Patriot Act has faced significant criticism, the legislation serves an important purpose of protecting the American citizens against potential terrorist activities. Traditionally, the American government has given the individual liberties and fundamental freedoms a top priority compared with the national security (Smith, 2015). However, the terrorists' activities that led to the 9/11 attack changed the US government's priorities (Deflem & McDonough, 2015). The Patriot Act gives wide discretional powers to the US law enforcement agencies as well as the government thereby enabling them to collect relevant intelligence information that can help in thwarting a possible terror attack. The US government started prioritizing the protection of its citizen against terrorists after the 9/11 attack and it gathers all the relevant information from areas such as finance, health, and religious organizations among others to enhance its preparedness (Setty, 2015). Thus the Patriot Act aims at improving the counterterrorism efforts of various state agencies responsible for national security. It is worth noting that the American people's civil liberties are not only important in times of war but in peaceful periods as well, and the Patriot Act preserves such rights at all times. However, critics view the legislation as unsuccessful in defending the citizens because it fails to sustain a vital balance between protecting the people’s privacy as outlined in the US Constitution and obtaining the necessary information needed for counterterrorism efforts (Gorham-Oscilowski & Jaeger, 2008).
Concisely, terrorism has become a threat to the US national security in recent times. The 9/11 terror attack awakened the US government's commitment to the protection of its citizen against a possible terror attack. There was the need to empower various state agencies to make them efficient and effective to undertake their intelligence and law enforcement tasks. The Patriot Act is one of the tools that was put in place by the US Congress to curb increasing terror activities in the US. The primary objective of the Patriot Act was to give the give the federal agencies such as the FBI a greater level of power when pursuing, intercepting, or collecting communications as well as intelligence relating to the suspected terrorists. Also, the Act allowed for an increased communication and cooperation with foreign security as well as intelligence gathering agencies thereby enhancing the regulatory powers regarding the flow of foreign money among terrorism. Although it was necessary, the law has since done more than what it was established to achieve. Initially meant to thwart terrorism in the US, the law has resulted in the infringement of the people’s personal liberties. Principally, the Patriot Act encroaches on the First Amendment rights whose primary purpose is the protection of the people’s freedom of expression. Also, the Patriot Act encroaches the Fourth Amendment rights which often protects individuals against unwarranted searches and seizure. Therefore, it is evident that the Patriot Act authorizes various unethical as well as unconstitutional surveillance of the American citizens and has contributed to little improvement on the American national security hence it should be abolished.
References
Barron, J. (2017). First Amendment law in a nutshell . West Academic.
Chang, N. (2001). The USA Patriot Act: What's so patriotic about trampling on the Bill of Rights. Guild Prac. , 58 , 142.
Deflem, M., & McDonough, S. (2015). The fear of counterterrorism: surveillance and civil liberties since 9/11. Society , 52 (1), 70-79.
Gorham-Oscilowski, U., & Jaeger, P. T. (2008). National Security Letters, the USA PATRIOT Act, and the Constitution: The tensions between national security and civil rights. Government Information Quarterly , 25 (4), 625-644.
Ombres, D. (2015). NSA Domestic Surveillance from the Patriot Act to the Freedom Act: The Underlying History, Constitutional Basis, and the Efforts at Reform. Seton Hall Legis. J. , 39 , 27.
Renan, D. (2016). The Fourth Amendment as Administrative Governance. Stan. L. Rev. , 68 , 1039.
Setty, S. (2015). Surveillance, secrecy, and the search for meaningful accountability. Stan. J. Int'l L. , 51 , 69.
Smith, P. J. (2015). The terrorism ahead: Confronting transnational violence in the twenty-first century . Routledge.
