Homework Question on The U.S.A. Patriot Act
- The U.S.A. Patriot Act has generated controversy ever since it was passed into law shortly after the attacks of September 11, 2001. Advocates argue that this legislation is a vital tool required by law enforcement to effectively fight and prevent future acts of terror against the United States. However, opponents of the law are concerned that it legalizes an erosion of the civil liberties of American Citizens.
- In your paper, please address the following:
- Summarize the origins and development of the Patriot Act in Congress to include its support and opposition, re-authorizations, and amendments.
- Select three to five provisions of the Patriot Act that you consider to be the most controversial and explain the arguments on both sides.
- Provide an overall assessment of whether the Patriot Act has been beneficial or detrimental to American society.
- The paper must be at least three double-spaced pages in length (excluding title and reference pages) and formatted according to APA style.
- In addition to the two required readings, you must use at least one scholarly resource to support your claims.
- Cite your sources within the text of your paper and on the reference page.
- For information regarding APA, including samples and tutorials, visit the Ashford Writing Center, located within the Learning Resources tab on the left navigation toolbar.
Homework Answer on The U.S.A. Patriot Act
Since September 11, 2001, measures to curb terrorist financing and money laundering became the first priority for the US government. One of the new tools to handle such issues was the USA Patriot Act, which was enacted in 2001. Congress passed the act in a hurry, thus, making the law quite controversial due to poor understanding and allowing the executive arm to have too much authority on security matters. To enhance its operation, President Obama appended a signature to the Patriot Sunsets Extension Act to extend the key provisions indicated in the USA Patriot Act.
The USA Patriot Act and its Controversies
The USA Patriot Act is an acronym for “Uniting and Strengthening America by providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism” (Yager, 2012, p. 1). Congress rushed to pass the legislation after September 11 attack to enhance security controls, but many legislatures did not have the time to read the act before voting. Consequently, Congress allowed the executive branch to have excessive power over security matter where citizens began to complain of being jailed without charges, excessive surveillance, and spying of political and religious groups without any evidence of crime.
The major segment of the Patriot Act focus on surveillance act, as explained in Title II. One of the provisions of the act is expanding terrorism laws to incorporate domestic terrorism, which could allow security agencies to subject political organizations to scrutiny and to apprehend individuals and groups that engage in political advocacy. Some amendments propagated by the Patriot Act have assisted the national security agencies to carry out criminal investigations, in addition to conducting surveillance and gaining access to data to curb terrorist acts (Gilbert, 2013).