The Patriot Act and Constitutional Freedom

Paper Summary:

The tragedy of 9/11 is the most recent case in point of how a nation can take its freedom and liberty for granted, which ultimately allows others to tear down that which has taken over 200 years to build, protect, and defend. This paper shows that the Patriot Act of 2001 undoubtedly faces numerous legal challenges in the upcoming months and years. While the issue of protecting the nation cannot be forgotten in the aftermath of 9/11, neither can the lessons learned from the Alien and Sedition Acts, nor the tragic mistake of interning thousands of Japanese-Americans under no more than suspicion and bigotry. The paper explains that the challenge of defending a nation from outside aggressors is simple when compared to the problem of defending the nation from those who would attack it from within.

From the Paper:

"Under the Patriot Act, the FBI needs only to certify to a FISA judge that the action is based on investigating terrorism. There remains no need for evidence of a crime, or probable cause, only that the search is designed to protect against terrorism. Under the Act, the judge has no authority to reject this application. While the Department of Justice (DOJ) calls this "seeking a court order," in application it is much closer to a rubber stamp. In the pragmatic application of the Act, the target of a search needn't be a terror suspect himself, so long as the government's purpose is "an authorized investigation ... to protect against international terrorism." (Lithwick and Turner, 2003)"

More papers on The Patriot Act and Constitutional Freedom:

• Persuasive Essay # 128044 : "The Patriot Act: A Danger to Civil Liberties"
• Analytical Essay # 134468 : "Opposition and Support for the Patriot Act"
• Essay # 59385 : "Patriot Act Memo"

APA Citation:

MLA Citation: