The Patriot Act is a more than page document passed by the U. Congress with bipartisan support and signed into law by President George W. Bush on October 26, , just weeks after the September 11 terrorist attacks against the United States.
But after the April Oklahoma City bombing in which American citizens blew up a federal building, domestic terrorism gained more attention. Congress refused, mainly because many felt loosening surveillance and records rules was unconstitutional. Faced with millions of fearful voters, Congress approached U. According to the Department of Justice, the Patriot Act simply expanded the application of tools already being used against drug dealers and organized crime. The act aimed to improve homeland security by:.
Whether to renew the act was passionately argued in the U. House of Representatives and the Senate. Depending on whom you ask or what you read, the Patriot Act may or may not have prevented terrorism. They claim the Patriot Act is essential to helping law enforcement identify leads and prevent attacks. Despite the supposed noble intentions behind the Patriot Act, the law is still hotly debated. The federal government asserts the Patriot Act has safeguards to protect the rights of American citizens.
Still, some parts of the law were found illegal by the courts. The act ended the bulk collection of all records under Section of the Patriot Act and allowed challenges to national security letter gag orders. It also required better transparency and more information sharing between the United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court and the American people. Bush Signs Patriot Act Renewal.
It expands the government's ability to search private property without notice to the owner. Section Intelligence searches.
It expands a narrow exception to the Fourth Amendment that had been created for the collection of foreign intelligence information Section It expands another Fourth Amendment exception for spying that collects "addressing" information about the origin and destination of communications, as opposed to the content Section Expanded access to personal records held by third parties One of the most significant provisions of the Patriot Act makes it far easier for the authorities to gain access to records of citizens' activities being held by a third party.
Making matters worse: The government no longer has to show evidence that the subjects of search orders are an "agent of a foreign power," a requirement that previously protected Americans against abuse of this authority. The FBI does not even have to show a reasonable suspicion that the records are related to criminal activity, much less the requirement for "probable cause" that is listed in the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution. All the government needs to do is make the broad assertion that the request is related to an ongoing terrorism or foreign intelligence investigation.
Judicial oversight of these new powers is essentially non-existent. The government must only certify to a judge - with no need for evidence or proof - that such a search meets the statute's broad criteria, and the judge does not even have the authority to reject the application.
Surveillance orders can be based in part on a person's First Amendment activities, such as the books they read, the Web sites they visit, or a letter to the editor they have written. A person or organization forced to turn over records is prohibited from disclosing the search to anyone. As a result of this gag order, the subjects of surveillance never even find out that their personal records have been examined by the government. That undercuts an important check and balance on this power: the ability of individuals to challenge illegitimate searches.
To gather foreign intelligence or investigate international terrorism To gather foreign intelligence or protect against international terrorism What can the FBI demand be turned over?
Only people who the FBI has evidence are an "agent of a foreign power" Anyone Who can they demand it from? Only common carriers, public accommodation facilities, physical storage facilities, or vehicle rental facilities Any entity including bookstores and libraries Why the Patriot Act's expansion of records searches is unconstitutional Section of the Patriot Act violates the Constitution in several ways.
It: Violates the Fourth Amendment, which says the government cannot conduct a search without obtaining a warrant and showing probable cause to believe that the person has committed or will commit a crime. Violates the First Amendment's guarantee of free speech by prohibiting the recipients of search orders from telling others about those orders, even where there is no real need for secrecy. Violates the First Amendment by effectively authorizing the FBI to launch investigations of American citizens in part for exercising their freedom of speech.
Violates the Fourth Amendmentby failing to provide notice - even after the fact - to persons whose privacy has been compromised. Notice is also a key element of due process, which is guaranteed by the Fifth Amendment. More secret searches For centuries, common law has required that the government can't go into your property without telling you, and must therefore give you notice before it executes a search.
Expansion of the intelligence exception in wiretap law Under the Patriot Act, the FBI can secretly conduct a physical search or wiretap on American citizens to obtain evidence of crime without proving probable cause, as the Fourth Amendment explicitly requires. Expansion of the "pen register" exception in wiretap law Another exception to the normal requirement for probable cause in wiretap law is also expanded by the Patriot Act.
This claim that URLs are just addressing data breaks down in two different ways: Web addresses are rich and revealing content. The URLs or "addresses" of the Web pages we read are not really addresses, they are the titles of documents that we download from the Internet. When we "visit" a Web page what we are really doing is downloading that page from the Internet onto our computer, where it is displayed. Therefore, the list of URLs that we visit during a Web session is really a list of the documents we have downloaded - no different from a list of electronic books we might have purchased online.
That is much richer information than a simple list of the people we have communicated with; it is intimate information that reveals who we are and what we are thinking about - much more like the content of a phone call than the number dialed. After all, it is often said that reading is a "conversation" with the author.
Web addresses contain communications sent by a surfer. URLs themselves often have content embedded within them. The erosion of accountability Attempts to find out how the new surveillance powers created by the Patriot Act were implemented during their first year were in vain. The Patriot Act gives the Director of Central Intelligence the power to identify domestic intelligence requirements. If you would like to not see this alert again, please click the "Do not show me this again" check box below.
Section helps law enforcement identify, disrupt, and prevent terrorist acts and money laundering activities by encouraging further cooperation among law enforcement, regulators, and financial institutions to share information. Media Inquiries. Send Correspondence to the Director of National Intelligence. Employment Verification. Request by Fax: Please send employment verification requests to Please allow three to five business days for ODNI to process requests sent by fax.
The Intelligence Community Inspector General. Privacy and Civil Liberties. Equal Employment Opportunity Complaints. Prepublication Classification Review. Freedom of Information Act Requests. FOIA Resources. Careers and Employment. Conducting Research with the Intelligence Community. Track the latest developments and stories of interest from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence: Follow us on Twitter. Follow us on Facebook.
0コメント