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national security and individual privacy tension
right to privacy and national security
citizen privacy vs national security
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Is the patriot act necessary if it protects but threatens our civil liberates? The patriot act threatens civil liberates. The U.S. is spying without the people’s consent. The patriot act will prevent terrorist attacks on the United States. The patriot act can be used to catch wanted criminals. The patriot act protects the people from danger but jeopardizes their civil rights. “We have to make a balance between security and civil liberties.”(Sensenbrenner 2). The patriot act was passed with very little congressional debate. The public was unaware of its passing. Our security is over protective because rights are being broken. Our rights should matter more to the government because the security is overprotective. Is the patriot act too harsh and invading our privacy? “Many opponents have come to see the patriot act as a violation of the fourth amendment to the U. S constitution.” (Belanger, Newton 2). The side effect of the patriot act is that it weakens many rights. This act weakens the fourth amendment which is our privacy protection. The fourth amendment allows citizens to be protected from unreasonable searches without a warrant. The police search suspects mainly because of their race or ethnic group. “Many people who were detained on suspicion of their connection to al Qaeda or other anti-American terrorists groups were innocent.” (Belanger, Newton 2). The patriot act weakens the right from protection of unreasonable searches the searches may be racist based on the person’s image. The people who were suspects of terrorism were accused of wrong doing. They had their civil rights taken away and they turned out to be innocent. It is not fair for people getting accused because they look a certain way.... ... middle of paper ... ...vil rights and losing protection. Protection is more important but unnecessary spying should not be tolerated. “The sad truth is that most Americans have already lost the battle when it comes to keeping personal information absolutely private.”( Lee, M.Dilascio, Tracey M.4). Work Cited Lee, M.DiLascio, Tracey M. "Counterpoint: The Patriot Act Is Necessary For National Security." Points Of View: Homeland Security & Civil Liberties (2013): 3. Points of View Reference Center. Web. 9 Feb. 2014. Belanger, CraigNewton, Heather. "Point: The Patriot Act Threatens Liberty." Points Of View: Homeland Security & Civil Liberties (2013): 2. Points of View Reference Center. Web. 9 Feb. 2014. "US Spying Prompts Reversal By Architect Of USA Patriot Act, Republican Rep. Sensenbrenner." Canadian Press, The (n.d.): Points of View Reference Center. Web. 9 Feb. 2014.
The Patriot Act violates many of the amendments in the Bill of Rights. The First Amendment, for example, gives American citizens freedom of speech, press, and religion. The Patriot Act allows the government to monitor the religious and political papers and institutions of citizens that are not even reasonable suspects for criminal activity. Church,
After the horrendous terrorist attack on the New York Trade Center a new Bill was passed by congress shortly after September 11, 2004. This bill is known as The Domestic Security Enhancement Act also called Patriot Act 2. This bill was designed as a follow-up to the USA Patriot Act to work in increasing government surveillance, detention and other law enforcement powers while reducing basic checks and balances on such powers. By the beginning of the year 2003 a draft of the legislation was available. Amongst the most severe problems the bill diminishes personal privacy by removing checks on government power, diminishes public accountability by increasing government secrecy, and diminishes corporate accountability under the pretext of fighting terrorism. Also the bill undermines fundamental constitutional rights of Americans under overboard definitions of “terrorism” and “terrorist organization” or under a terrorism pretext. Furthermore, unfairly targets immigrants under the pretext of fighting terrorism. (http://www.aclu.org/Safeand Free/SafeandFree.cfm?ID=11835&c=206)
While this act made legislative changes that increased surveillance and the investigative powers of law enforcement agencies to protect America from further terrorist acts, the passing of the USA Patriot Act has reduced the privacy rights of Americans and also does not provide for a system of checks and balances that safeguard civil liberties. Terrorism is a serious matter that should not be handled lightly, but the act has gone over the top in trying to stop terrorism. The USA Patriot Act, enacted for protecting America from further attacks, not only does little if anything to protect Americans, but rather undermines their civil rights. The Patriot Act targets not only terrorists, but also the American people which it intended to protect.
USA patriot Act, also known as the “Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism” Act was passed October 26, 2001, after the September 11 attacks on the world trade center so that intelligence agencies can find terrorist in the united states and prosecute them. The Patriot Act allows the intelligence agencies to tap into phones, emails and banking history without the consent of a judge. The federal government have unlimited authority to spy on American citizens.
Since the terrorist attacks at Sept. 11, 2001, the surveillance issue often has turned away the table in the debate of individual privacy or counterterrorism. By passing the Patriot Act, Congress gave President Bush an immense law enforcement authority to boost U.S's counterterrorism, and the President used his enlarged powers to forward specific programs in order to reduce the threat of terrorism and defend the country’s safety.
The Patriot Act Pros and Cons is a topic that is much like a double-edged sword. On one hand many people feel they would like to be protected and feel that they will give up some ...
In conclusion, I believe that the US Patriot Act is putting the United States’s citizens in danger. Accusing and arresting innocent people who are not terrorists will end up making people turn against each other. The government is casting a net so big that it catches not only the bad people, but the good as well, all in the name of 6National Security. Are we really living in a nation that believes in “Liberty and Justice for all?”
(O'BEIRNE, KATE. "Congress's Patriotic Act: This is a law that defends America and, yes, preserves civil liberties, dammit." National Review 15 Sept. 2003. War and Terrorism Collection. Web. 18 Nov. 2013.)
Benjamin Franklin once said “Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.” It should be every rational citizen’s question if we should exchange our civil liberties for safety. How far do we have to go to keep our civil liberties from being violated? We are consistently surveyed by the government in every step. The government is going through our phone calls, text messages, private emails and social media. It’s almost impossible to keep anything privates nowadays. In my opinion, there should be a limit on how much of our privacy is surveyed by the government.
Thomson, Peter M. "Patriot Act Surveillance Powers Protect Americans." Privacy. Ed. Jamuna Carroll. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2006. Opposing Viewpoints. Rpt. from "White Paper on the USA Patriot Act's 'Roving' Electronic Surveillance Amendment to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act." Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies, 2004. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 16 Apr. 2014.
The U.S. Patriot Act was set in place to better serve our country against terrorism. The U.S. Patriot Act is an Acronym for Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Acts (Lithwick). This act is to punish terrorist actions and improve law enforcement not only in the United States but also around the world. The United States Patriot Act consists of over 1,000 sections that describe the act in great detail. The sections include, but are not limited to, the power extended to the government by The U.S. Patriot Act to deport and incarcerate non citizens. With the U.S. Patriot Act a person’s phone line can be tapped, records of any and all purchases checked, and even library records searched. This Act also has sections to help money laundering, expand our country’s border protection, strengthening the extent of criminal laws and provide for people suffering from any type of terrorism acts (Huffman).
This is not what the Patriot Act was passed for; they have gone over their limits and are getting involved with things that don’t entirely concern them. This is exactly what infuriates the people because they are getting out of their boundaries to make a big fuss out of some minor crime that has nothing to pertain to terrorism. While the Patriot Act was put into place to stop terrorism, it has had a nasty after math. People suspected of terrorist activity have no civil rights. They are put in prison and held without due process regardless of whether they are innocent or not. This is just wrongful imprisonment because they don’t have a valid reason as to why they would put an innocent civilian behind bars. This act just concerns the people by any rational assessment. The power given to the government to conduct surveillance on citizens is just against the constitution because we have no privacy. The government is off-track and is labeling anyone as a suspected terrorist and will collect information about them. We are living in a society where slowly and slowly we’re going to lose most of our rights and be told what to do. We are gradually going to become somewhat close to a dictatorship and lose all of our rights. The Patriot Act also allows the above-mentioned sneak and peak warrants to be used for any federal crime,
Civil liberties have been affected immensely by the Patriot Act. A brief definition of the Patriot Act is; uniting and strengthening America by providing appropriate tools required to intercept and obstruct terrorism. The Patriot Act modifies the rules on searches. It allows third party holders of your financial, library, travel, video rental, phone, medical, church, synagogue and mosque records. These records can be searched without your knowledge or consent provided the government says it's trying to protect against terrorism. The FBI only needs to say the search will protect against terrorism and they don't need probable cause or evidence. A judge has no authority to reject this application. The person doesn't have to be a terror suspect themselves as long as the government's purpose is an authorized investigation to protect against internal terrorism. The Patriot Act also violates everyone's constitutional right to privacy. The ACLU shows a funny but scary illustration of what the government can do with the information they obtain by violating the right to privacy. Basically, the Patriot Act allows the government to monitor anyone and everyone's life whenever they choose. While some say the Patriot Act violates civil liberties, it was designed to support the effort against terrorism. The Patriot Act also created a counter-terrorism fund and increased funding for...
In the world today, the Patriot Act states that it protects U.S. citizen's freedom. Iby ensuring the FBI's ability to examine anybody's daily activities. To me, this is a major contradiction. The Patriot Act is basically saying that the government has the ability to now control our freedom. According to the Patriot Act, law enforcement has the ability to access highly personal files such as medical, financial, and student records. This goes against the maxim freedom is slavery because this act is saying that it is ensuring American's freedom by allowing government officials to have surveillances on our everyday life. This is threatening many of our amendments. Some of our rights being threatened include the First Amendment: our freedom of religion, speech, and press. The Fourth Amendment is also in jeopardy, which is our freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures. Other Amendments in jeopardy include: the Sixth Amendment that allows due process, the Eighth Amendment that protects citizens from cruel and unusual punishment, and the Fourteenth Amendment that gives equal protection laws to everyone. Other instances that challenge the freedom vs. slavery maxim came when the president talked about amending the constitution concerning marriages. As of right now, America can choose who they want to marry. This represents the freedom Americans have now. If this is passed, then the government will be able to decide whom the public can marry. When I say, "who the public can marry," I mean as far as same sex marriages or traditional man and woman marriages. This takes away the freedom of expression that society has today and replacing it with rules and regulations, symbolizing slavery. The government has made society today feel the need for protection.
Benjamin Franklin, one of the founding fathers of the United States, once said “Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.” In America’s society today, some are willing to sacrifice their civil liberties in order to gain protection and security over some potential threat. Especially after the events of September 11th and several attempted bombings in U.S. cities. This sacrifice of individual freedoms such as the freedom of speech, expression, the right to information, to new technologies, and so forth, for additional protection is more of a loss than a gain. Citizens of the United States deserve equal liberty and safety overall, as someone should not have to give up one value in order to gain another. This concept of individual right goes beyond the simple idea of “individual comfort.” Personal liberties cannot be surrendered and are not to be compromised since these liberties are intangible. Individuals should not have their personal liberties exchanged for national security because individuals are guaranteed protection to these rights.