Impact of Terrorism on our Civil Liberties

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Since the attacks on 9/11 the terrorism threat has still not subsided. Threats come and go and many people are on high alert, either by judging race, activities, or for protection. The attacks of 9/11 have caused national panic in ways to counter terror threats. Many hurdles have been crossed such as the death of Osama Bin laden and the capture of many potential terrorists. Due to the many forms of terrorism, the plethora of new technology, and the increase in the network infrastructure, some control was put on the internet and the phones of many people, wiretapping by the United States has caused much criticism toward the nation. Wiretapping and the filtering and monitoring the internet help the FBI and the government keep suspects in check without them knowing. The question arises, is wiretapping a form of a violation of civil liberties? The Patriot Act was put into effect after the 9/11 attacks allowing the government to use many means to detect terrorism threats or possible threats to the nation.
The questions stem from the core of civil liberty, what are the liberties that we are granted? “Civil liberties are the personal freedoms of individuals that are protected from government intrusion” (Losco and Baker, Pg. 65). This definition ties in with other definitions of what civil liberties are and what is promised to the people. The definition explains that civil liberties are granted to us and should not be violated. The government, by using various methods of invading privacy and making new laws causes, the granted liberties to become violated such as free speech, freedom of religion, due process of law, and many more. This shift in need for security causes a feeling of suffocation from the limited amounts of liberties that...

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...FORMATION AWARENESS (TIA) UPDATE. (2003, February 7). U.S. Department of Defense. Retrieved April 17, 2014, from http://www.defense.gov/releases/release.aspx?releaseid=3625
FOIA. (n.d). Retrieved. FCC. April 17, 2014, from http://www.fcc.gov/foia
“Islam is Peace” Says President. (2001, September 17). The White House. Retrieved April 18, 2014, from http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2001/09/20010917-11.html
Safeguarding Privacy in the Fight Against Terrorism. (2004, March). TAPAC. Retrieved April 19, 2014, from http://www.sainc.com/tapac/TAPAC_Executive_Final_5-10-04.pdf
Evans, D, N., Maragh, C., & Porter. J. R. (2014). What Do we Know About NYC’s Stop and Frisk Program? A Spatial and Statistical Analysis. Society For Science And Education, 1(2), 129-144. Retrieved April 18, 2014, from http://scholarpublishing.org/index.php/ASSRJ/article/view/66

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