Patriot Act

In the wake of September 11, many things happened very quickly. Along with the beginning of a '"'war'"' against terrorism, an act was passed to help prevent future terrorism in the USA. The name of this is the USA Patriot Act. The act legalizes many surveillance techniques that were once prohibited. The act has been passed without debate, and the new privileges given to our government have not been thoroughly examined. The law enforcers of our country are now capable of monitoring the citizens in ways most people are not aware of. Some of the surveillance laws are self-terminating after four years, but many of the more important laws are permanent. What will these new surveillance laws be used for after the war on terrorism is over? Lee Tien, the Electronic Frontier Foundation staff attorney, suggests that the new rights can be used to put America into a '"'police state'"'. There is a need for checks and balances in the USA Patriot Act to protect the American citizens.

There are two hundred ninety pages in the USA Patriot Act; many of these pages are discussing subjects that change the rights of American citizens forever. The act was passed in a little over a month, which suggest that few, if any, congressmen thoroughly read this detailed act. In times of crisis, history has proved that United States citizens willingly compromise their right of privacy without considering the consequences. Many people have openly accepted this act without knowing what it is, most people have never even heard of the USA Patriot Act. The USAPA (USA Patriot Act) has not gone under the scrutiny that any normal act would have, yet this could be more important than any other act to date. The USAPA allows national or domestic law enforces (from the NSA, FBI, and CIA all the way down to the local police) to tap your computer or voice mail with a simple search warrant issued by a judge. Only one out of ten thousand of these search warrants requests are rejected. The law enforcers are also allowed to tap electronic devices without telling the victim about the warrant or that they are being monitored. Also, the CIA and other foreign agencies are allowed to share information with the domestic law enforcement. This means that agencies that were once not allowed to intervene in the affairs of the USA can do so without punishment. These are few of the many laws that have been adopted by our country without the general consensus. Although these laws may be needed to properly protect our country, we need to be constantly informed as to how law enforcers are using their power, so they do not abuse their power or the people they are supposed to protect.

America has a rival that we have declared war against, terrorism. But after terrorism is suppressed, whom will our country battle next and when will the adversaries show themselves? During the idleness after terrorism is vanquished, government law enforcers are given a chance to misuse the new surveillance laws. This is because there will be little for the law keepers to do other than to turn their attention to the American citizens. These laws are not made to charge average people with misdemeanors; they are to be used for national security. With monitoring techniques similar to those legalized in the USAPA being used on all of AmericaЎЇs citizens, there would be a greater sense of oppression among the people. To be oppressed and governed in such a way by police is marshal law. As a safeguard, the government added an expiration date on most of the surveillance regulations except one of the key laws. This law allows something called a pen register trap and trace device order to be modified. A pen register trap and trace device order is a court order that is used for information gathering. It is very simple to get this court order, because it originally just recorded the phone numbers made by a selected person. The court does not require any results from the tap either. The USAPA has changed what the pen