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Will Bullion
US Honors
Lynne Kenney
5/12/14

Why the USA PATRIOT Act Doesnt Work
The USA PATRIOT (Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing
Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism) act is a
document that was created by president George W. Bush in 2001 shortly after
the 9/11 terrorist attacks in order to prevent further foreign conflict and put an
end to radical terrorism. There are stronger solutions to radical terrorism that
will not inhibit a citizens right. The new policy needs to limit these privacy
invasions to terrorist suspicions only because these other forms of invasion are
unconstitutional.
U.S. citizens were traumatized and devastated following Al-Qaedas
violent destruction of American landmarks. This desolation symbolized the fall
of American pride and nationalism at the time. George Bush created the USA
PATRIOT Act as a statement to the attackers, and a promise to the nation that the
government would take preventative action against any sort of foreign
terrorism. Bush defines a terrorist as anyone who commits acts of violence in
order to intimidate for a purpose, regardless of race or religion. The act says
The concept of individual responsibility for wrongdoing is sacrosanct in
American society, and applies equally to all religious, racial, and ethnic groups
(USA PATRIOT Act, I, 102). Bushs clear statement displayed his view that
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anybody could be a terrorist, regardless of race. This statement in the act
prohibits any racial injustices or stereotypes without any hard evidence. Bush
makes it clear that any profiling of any sort when dealing with terrorism is
unlawful.
Recently, the act has done little to stop terrorism. Instead, the act has been
put forth towards drug violence, Internet surveillance, and domestic privacy
invasion. The act violates domestic privacy through granting sneak and peek
searches in which the authorities may delay notifying a property owner that an
area has been searched. In 2010, less than 1 percent of the 3,970 such searches
were terror-related. About 76 percent were drug-related (Kravets). Sneak and
peaks exist to trigger premature reactions to potential foreign terrorists. The
USA PATRIOT Acts authority is abused and expanded through the conduct of
random searches due to drug violence, and domestic terrorism. By the numbers
shown in the above statistic, it is evident that certain aspects of the USA
PATRIOT Act have absolutely nothing to do with terrorism, which was, and still
should be the primary focus of the act.
The act also partially impedes freedom of speech, the most basic right
under the United States Constitution. One group that was particularly distorted
by the Act was the Humanitarian Law Project (HLP). The projects goal is to unite
nations through teaching strategies to terrorist groups in order to solve conflict.
When asked about the act, David Cole, a lawyer who was represents financial
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and criminal cases for the HLP stated, The interest in stopping even pure
speech, furthering no legal ends, simply because you don't like an
organizationis impermissible under our First Amendment (Totenberg, NPR).
His views demonstrate and claim that the USA PATRIOT Act denies citizens their
rights to freedom of speech, a clear violation of the Constitution. His work
involves forming alliances between terrorist groups and government. Although
this work is beneficial for both sides, the Patriot Act deems any association with
terrorist groups illegal, and forbids free speech to those groups. This is a
detrimental aspect of the USA PATRIOT Act because it directly violates the free
speech that an organization is entitled to.
Privacy is an essential right for American citizens. The Bill of Rights
illuminates privacy and was partially written with the motive of giving citizens
their right to the privacy within their own homes. However, these rights are put
in jeopardy by the government when their own interests overshadow those of
the people. The interests of the government are for maximum technological
security, as many of USA PATRIOTs provisions included a major increase in law
enforcement. While law enforcement is vital to the safety of the United States,
violating the privacy of innocent citizens makes the governments desires
controversial. The governments interests are solely based off of security and the
protection of America. Ideologically, privacy is vital. The National Security
Agency makes it hard for citizens to have the security they desire, which violates
their rights and general happiness.
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It is essential that the USA PATRIOT Act be repealed. One option is to
consolidate the act and get rid of the parts that are so controversial. These
sections include the inversion of domestic security and unannounced searches.
The government needs to both change the name of the act, and explicitly
announce its implications. Another option is to reduce the Patriot Act from the
vague, umbrella of a policy it is and create a new act, a central document focusing
predominantly on terrorism. Although putting many ideas under one document
is productive, it misguides the reader. Creating a new, separate policy to clarify
the goals of these acts would be insufficient. To expand the document from a
domestic policy to a foreign policy, an act can be created that forms an
international organization that shares intelligence to combat international
terrorism around the globe. This alliance can be formed through the current
foreign alliance committees already in action. For example, the United Nations
would be a potential use to form such an anti-terrorism organization.
The United States must change the USA PATRIOT Act because it is in
direct violation of the constitution in numerous instances. A new document
focusing solely on fighting international terrorism needs to be produced. The
additional, non-terrorism sections of the document are controversial, and simply
unnecessary for a primarily anti-terrorist act. These additional parts violate
amendment four of the Bill of Rights because through sneak and peaks, the
government can search a house unannounced with a warrant. This is a direct
violation because all searches need to be announced to the homeowner.
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Otherwise, it is an encroachment on a citizens privacy. Another part of the Bill of
Rights the Patriot Act violates is amendment one. The act violates free speech by
forbidding all corporations who have been in any sort of contact (peaceful or
non-peaceful) with terrorist organizations.
It also violates the privacy of the citizen population through information
sharing within government bodies. This means that anything that somebody
does on the Internet or in a library is recorded by the government and can later
be traced back to him or her in the event of an investigation. Regardless of
whether the suspect is a terrorist, personal records are still kept on file and are
constantly being recorded by the government.
A new policy would include the elimination of all of the above violations.
This policy would also include the limitation of national security through this act
to terrorist suspects only. Creating another act specifying these issues would
solve the controversy and focus on the central purpose of the USA PATRIOT Act.
By solidifying the act solely to terrorism combat, America would gain a better
understanding of the act, while feeling more comfortable without the NSA
violating the Bill of Rights.
The new policy would solve the major flaws the USA PATRIOT Act
currently includes. Instead of being bombarded by federal agents, unauthorized
citizen searches will be prohibited due to their violation of the Bill of Rights.
Citizens will therefore live a more comfortable domestic lifestyle and will trust
the government with their information more than the current situation. By
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limiting the act strictly to foreign terrorism, American-born citizens and
homeowners will not have to worry about having their homes secretly invaded
without their knowledge. Creating a more comfortable, safer environment would
have a great affect on America as whole, because of the advancements the new
USA PATRIOT Act would generate.