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Privacy Rights

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Submitted By misplacedfan
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Privacy Rights
December 14, 2012

There is a believed right, not stated in the constitution that is cherished by Americans as much as their freedom of speech or their right to bear arms. It is privacy. A belief that no one may come and search your home without cause, or that personal information about you and your family will be protected and not shown to others. Yet, as much as we enjoy these rights, they are slowly slipping away as laws are passed to fight terrorism.
Privacy was never guaranteed in the constitution. The closest thing to protecting our privacy was the 4th amendment. The amendment protected people from unwarranted search and seizure, but only from the government, not from individuals. Federal privacy laws have only dealt with the actions of the federal government and its agencies. The burden of personal privacy laws have fallen to the states. After the attacks of 9/11, the federal government took unprecedented steps to prevent more attacks. One of these steps taken was wiretapping U.S. citizens. Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez (2006) claimed “We cannot defend the nation without such information”. However, The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) of 1978 was passed because of the governments wiretapping of dissidents in the 60’s and early 70’s. The act setup a panel of judges to review requests for domestic surveillance, in cases of national security, these requests could be “fast tracked” to be authorized quickly. It also allowed government wiretapping of people for a limited number of days in special circumstances. About 20,000 warrants have been requested since 1979, with only four being rejected. Still, Gonzalez (2006) argues that when it comes to terrorism, “Obtaining FISA warrants currently takes too long and requires the government to submit too much information, and the warrantless wiretaps allowed are too restrictive”.
The government has a fine line it has to walk. It needs to do all it can to protect its people, but it needs to do it within the law. The desire to ignore the law in the name of protection can be overwhelming. As tempting as it is, we are a nation of laws, with checks and balances in the system designed to protect us not only from each other but more importantly from the government. When we decide to give up some of our freedom in the name of security, how do we know we will get it back?
Concerns about privacy were elevated with the passing of the Patriot Act in 2001. In it, the government could conduct searches without notifying the subject until after the search. It also allowed the government to get information, like financial or medical records, through “third parties”, as long as it is “terrorism related”
Most defenders of the new laws believe that the government has every right to do whatever it needs to defend its people. That personal right should be given up in sake of protection of the country. There are some people like Robert Turner (2006) who think people would gladly give up some of their rights to fight terrorism. About those who wouldn’t, he says, “They would be asserting that their privacy interests are of greater importance than the right to exist of perhaps tens- or hundreds-of-thousands of their fellow citizens.” Despite what happened in this country in the past concerning wiretapping he feels there is no need for concern about abuse of these programs for political gain. Others like Assistant Attorney General Daniel Bryant (2006) claim “These reforms have been rooted in constitutionally tried and true, court-tested regimes”.
Others feel that despite the need for national security, personal rights should not be sacrificed for it. “‘Trust us' is not the principle on which our country was founded” said Nancy Libin (2006). Another opponent to expanding the president’s power, Kenneth Gormley (2006), points out that no war has officially been declared. The fight against terrorism is an ongoing commitment with no foreseeable end. Gormley (2006) goes on to say “When does this emergency cease?” and asks “Are we prepared to say that the president may unilaterally suspend the Constitution for an indefinite period of time in order to deal with emergencies that have no ending point?”
The government should protect its people. That is its main reason for “being”. However it needs to do it in a way that is in line with the laws it was founded on. For America, it means the fight against terrorism must be conducted within the law. The constitution was written with a distrust of government in mind. No one branch of government has more power than the other. That’s why changes can be made by the other branches when they disagree. These are the checks and balances used to prevent the government from being too intrusive. If laws are passed to circumvent existing laws then, as Gormley (2006) points out “unless the government adheres to the Bill of Rights' ban on unreasonable government searches, officials would be destroying the very democracy they claim to be protecting from terrorists.”
.

References
Clemmitt, M. “et al” (2006, November 17). Privacy in peril. CQ Researcher, 16, 961-984. Retrieved from http://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/
Jost, K. Bryant, D. (2003, October 24). Civil liberties debates. CQ Researcher, 13, 893-916. Retrieved from http://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/

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