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Essay On Patriot Act

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The Patriot Act After the September 11 terrorist attacks, the country was in a state a mass hysteria. As a result, the United States Congress passed the “Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism” Act, or known simply as The Patriot Act. The Patriot Act was created with the objective of locating and arresting terrorists working on American soil in order to prevent another major attack from happening. The only way to do this was for the Patriot Act to allow for the unconstitutional surveillance of Americans citizens. As a result, the Patriot Act is an infringement on basic American ideals and freedoms. The first infringement of citizens’ rights is Section 213. Section 213, also known as the “sneak and peek” section, violates the Fourth Amendment by allowing law enforcement to enter a person’s house or apartment, search through their things, and even seize their property while they were gone without having to tell them first. The Fourth Amendment was intended to protect people from any unreasonable searches and seizures, and also requires the …show more content…
Well between 2003 and 2006 the FBI issued 192,499 NSLs, which allow FBI agents to retrieve personal information such as phone and computer records. Out of all 192,499 only one led to a terrorist conviction (“Surveillance under the Patriot Act”). I would not consider this effective considering the rights given up for this ‘protection’. The information gathered never has to be erased, meaning that any information they have about you, can be saved forever. Along with the NSLs, the ‘sneak and peek’ searches have also not been very effective. Out of 3,970 Sneak and Peeks carried out in 2010, less than one percent were actually terrorist related. The majority (76%) was actually drug related (“Surveillance under the Patriot Act”). The government should not be using a terrorist safety act for their own

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