...Civil Liberties and Terrorism Ashley Larman POL201 Instructor Tracy Trunnell 4/22/12 Civil Liberties and Terrorism “All those who seek to destroy the liberties of a democratic nation ought to know that war is the surest and shortest means to accomplish it” Alexis de Tocqueville. I personally believe that we do not need to restrict our civil liberties as stated in the Bill of Rights in order to protect American citizens from terrorist organizations. Civil liberties are the personal guarantees and freedoms that the government cannot abridge, either by law, constitution, or judicial interpretation which include the freedom from slavery and forced labor, freedom from torture and death, the right to liberty and security, right to a fair trial, the right to defend one's self, the right to own and bear arms, the right to privacy, freedom of conscience, freedom of expression, freedom of assembly and association, and the right to marry and have a family ( Conner, Sabato, 2011). Yes, it is very important for us to worry about terrorism and to defend our country but it is not necessary for our government to take away our civil liberties in the process. So where does this leave us? Do we let terrorism scare us into losing our civil liberties or do we ignore terrorism and keep our rights? I do not think we have to compromise our safety from terrorism to keep our civil liberties, there has got to be a common ground where everyone can keep their civil liberties and still be safe from terrorism...
Words: 969 - Pages: 4
...to restrict our civil liberties as stated in the Bill of Rights in order to protect American citizens from terrorist organizations. Civil liberties are the personal guarantees and freedoms that the government cannot abridge, either by law, constitution, or judicial interpretation which include the freedom from slavery and forced labor, freedom from torture and death, the right to liberty and security, right to a fair trial, the right to defend one's self, the right to own and bear arms, the right to privacy, freedom of conscience, freedom of expression, freedom of assembly and association, and the right to marry and have a family ( Conner, Sabato, 2011). Yes, it is very important for us to worry about terrorism and to defend our country but it is not necessary for our government to take away our civil liberties in the process. So where does this leave us? Do we let terrorism scare us into losing our civil liberties or do we ignore terrorism and keep our rights? I do not think we have to compromise our safety from terrorism to keep our civil liberties, there has got to be a common ground where everyone can keep their civil liberties and still be safe from terrorism. I believe that restrictions in civil liberties violate the underlying principles of American democracy greatly. It is not necessary to throw out everything this country stands for to prevent us from being hurt by terrorism. There are many other ways to fight terrorism without violating our rights as American citizens...
Words: 891 - Pages: 4
...1 Civil Rights vs. 2 Civil Liberties Civil Liberties can be defined as the state of being subject only to laws established for the good of the community, especially about freedom of action and speech. 3 Civil rights can be defined as the rights of citizens to political and social freedom and equality. Civil rights and civil liberties have their own rules and sector where they can be claimed or used. Civil rights aren’t like civil liberties but can be used in some same cases. There isn’t much similarity between these two but since the fact that these rights and rule can be used against a government officials who has been using their power for self-profit only. They differ because civil liberties are laws established for good of community where as civil rights are rights of citizen which allow them to use all the public stuff provided from the government without any discrimination on race, skin color, religion, etc. 4 the civil sequence that has more influence on my life will be freedom of religion. I believe this to be true because being an international student from a Hindu country I have seen different peoples from different part of world living happy and peaceful life following their own religion and their own nationality so for me freedom of religion been working perfectly on this country....
Words: 657 - Pages: 3
...tolerance for the USA PATRIOT Act (Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act). Citizens are becoming more protective of their civil liberties than they were immediately following the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. Many U.S. citizens feel that the USA PATRIOT Act gives federal authorities excessive power and violates the protection provided to U.S. citizens by the U.S. Constitution. In the Bill of Rights, the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution protects “the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures…" (U.S. Constitution. Amend. IV). The USA PATRIOT Act is believed to infringe upon U.S. citizen’s civil liberties by granting federal authorities liberal room to work around the Bill of Rights. John McKay, former United States Attorney for the Western District of Washington stated that “the Patriot Act simply permits use of this longstanding tool in cases involving terrorism” (2005). In fact, these same liberal laws that make up the USA PATRIOT Act have been used to combat organized crime and drug dealers for many years. Suspected terrorist should fall into this same category and should not be afforded the protected of the Bill of Rights. It can be argued that the lack of such significant laws made the U.S. vulnerable to terrorist attacks in the first place. With the slipping approval of the USA PATRIOT Act...
Words: 791 - Pages: 4
...many politicians and voters. Homeland security builds coalitions and partnerships, protects civil rights and civil liberties, and develops human capital. Coalitions and partnerships are one of the key points of homeland security. Homeland security was created during Cold War. This was to protect the USA from the possibility of a nuclear war with the communistic government of the Russians at the time. Today the USA’s department of homeland security collaborates horizontally which is between different federal agencies. This is done to ensure communication between different federal groups. Also, this ensures that the different groups join forces concerning issues in the country. They collaborate vertically through different forms of government. One of the many coalitions for homeland security is the U.S. Department of States. This was created in 1789. It was made to protect the rights of people and foreign relations. This helps benefit the different forms of government having positive relations with other countries. Also homeland security protects civil rights and civil liberties. This is done through the two main organizations the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). The CIA gathers information that protects the USA and it was created to do such. While the FBI was founded to provide other law enforcements with corporative assistance. The rights of many people are enjoyed due to the...
Words: 555 - Pages: 3
...them, and did everything that they were told to do. Many did not know how to read nor did they know how to write. Living as an African American in those times was like not living at all. Many were killed, raped, and treated like animals. With the United States progressing there was another process in the making. With the help from their own people, legislatures, and many other types of movements, African Americans were able to accomplish ultimate freedom. As they came into slavery, they stayed slaves for many years. African Americans worked day and night, not as people but as property. The nation was very much divided in the 1860s because the south highly supported slavery while the north did not, and that division helped bring on the civil war. The war ended but that did not mean the winner got what they wanted. In 1865, The Thirteenth Amendment that outlawed slavery was submitted to the states, “AMENDMENT XIII Section 1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime...
Words: 2204 - Pages: 9
...Racial equality in the USA remains a distant dream – discuss The dream of racial equality has taken great steps towards becoming a reality in the past 50 years. The passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as well as the election of the first black President are counteracted by events such as the shooting of Trayvon Martin in 2012 and the fact only nine African-American senators have ever been elected to the Senate. In this way although on the surface racial equality appears to be achieved, the reality is that with economic discrimination increasing during the recession, and instances of white flight increasing, racial equality has not yet fully been achieved in the USA. There were many formal attempts to establish civil rights in the USA from 1950s onwards. Before this the passage of the 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments created to guarantee the rights African-Americans had been ignored by many states, especially in the deep South, meaning that for most blacks racial equality was a distant dream. However, the passage of the Civil Rights Act in 1964 and the creation of affirmative action policies under JFK began to change things. For the first time government policy began to make up for years of historical discrimination against the African-American population. Affirmative action ensured that members of all previous disadvantaged minorities were given a head start, specifically in areas like education and deployment. With all federally funded projects from the 60s onwards...
Words: 1488 - Pages: 6
...2 and Patriot Act 3 and its alleged abuse of our bill of rights by comparing and contrasting the positions between the Government need for them and the people’s rights, freedoms and liberties. By offering this assessment, you will learn a lot about what policy making was going on to achieve this type of law. 2) What are the arguments surrounding the use of these extreme policies in the U.S. or are they not extreme? And 3) What are the implications that these policies having or are not having on the lives of Americans? Furthermore, the purpose here is to enhance your researching, writing, and analytical skills. 4) Compare and contrast the leading issues in the current controversial USA Patriot Act (1,2 and 3) situation. Your paper should compare and contrast the leading issues in the current controversial USA Patriot Act situation and how it affects your bill of rights. This assessment should explain the similarities and or differences between the rights of the citizens of the United States, the U.S. Government and the State positions. In addition, you should acknowledge the entities (i.e. U.S. citizens, government civil servants, interest groups, corporate interests…) that are endorsing the controversial USA Patriot Act and how this endorsement correlates, complements or conflicts with the position you maintain as an American citizen. Then choose one entity (i.e. American citizens, government civil servants, interest groups, corporate interests…and give some...
Words: 488 - Pages: 2
...Morris W. Ricks Dr. Mindel Speech 101.102 Due Date: June 28, 2011 Persuasive Speech Outline: The USA PATRIOT ACT I. Introduction A. What if your home was raided by the police, and when you asked to see a warrant, an officer handed you a letter signed by the desk sergeant? What if the same officer informed you that he’s taking your cellular phone, because your calls had been monitored? He arrests you, never informs you of the charge, and if released, tells you that you can’t discuss the incident with anyone? You being a well versed citizen of your constitutional rights under the law begin to inform the officer of the first ten amendments, called the Bill of Rights, and your rights have been violated. What if the officer told you that two weeks prior the city legislators got together, and decided that catching criminals has become too difficult of a task? So, they got rid of the first, fourth, fifth, and tenth amendments of the Constitution and now citizens only have six? Well, you would probably advise the officer to zealously avoid the narcotics section of the evidence room. However, what if I told you that this ridiculous scenario I just described is in fact current law at a Federal level, and if all of us as citizens continue to turn a blind eye to the impact this law is having on our way of life, we will watch the very rights I have previously stated slowly, but assuredly dissipate. B. The first article of the U.S Military Code...
Words: 2505 - Pages: 11
...Civil Rights The struggle for equality has been a battle fought for hundreds of years amongst Native Americans, African Americans, and Mexican Americans. When we hear the words civil rights often we conjure images of Martin Luther King Jr. delivering his soul-stirring “I Have a Dream” speech before the nation’s capital. The truth is, minorities have been fighting for their civil rights way before the 1950’s in fact it dates way back to the early 1880’s when Native Americans lost their lands, family, culture but most importantly their rights as human beings. America deprived Native Americans of their rights and ways of living by recruiting the young children to try and stop them from growing up to become “savages,” as the USA described them and instead civilize them and turn them into men of class. The USA though they were doing the Native Americans a favor by civilizing them when instead all they were doing was destroying the most valuable thing a man has in this world which is his family. If being taken away from your family wasn’t bad enough students at federal boarding schools were forbidden to express their culture, everything from wearing long hair to speaking even a single Indian word. They lost not only their language, but also their American Indian name. In my opinion I don’t see how the USA was doing Native Americans a favor by the intent to completely transform people, inside and out, language, religion, family structure, economics, the way you make a living...
Words: 965 - Pages: 4
...social contract is one of our most essential foundations of our American political system. The debate of how much of our liberties needs to be taken away to ensure our security has been a long lasting one. One of our most iconic founding fathers, Benjamin Franklin, said, “Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both.” When we give governments power, they will use them for their own self-interest and when needed for their preservation. In the last decades there have been many technologic advances and our government need to adapt to these changes. The Patriot Act was but into law because our congress believed it was the right course of action to protect our nation’s security. Nonetheless, The Patriot Act undermines one of our most fundamental civil liberties and questions the integrity of our American democracy. Six weeks after September 11, 2001 congress passed a new law named, The Patriot Act (The Uniting and Strengthening America by Proving Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001). After these attacks, the nation’s top priority was to defend its citizens from other acts of terror. Many politicians argued that these terrorist attacks succeeded because we as a government did not have the necessary tools to stop them. Part of the problem was that The Fourth Amendment required investigators to show probable cause of criminal...
Words: 2421 - Pages: 10
...where policy alternatives are discussed, debated, agreed on and then disagreed on. The third phase is policy adoption, where a policy alternative officially becomes a public policy due to our government adopting it. The next phase is the policy implementation phase, which is where the public policies that are adopted in the previous stage are put into operation. The fifth and final stage is the policy evaluation stage where the policy goes through an evaluation stage (effectiveness, efficiency, adequacy, and equity). The USA Patriot Act is just one of many polices that have been passed by our government that has caused great controversy amongst the people. The USA Patriot Act is an act that was signed on October 26, 2011 by former president George W. Bush (George W. Bush Signs the Patriot Act). USA Patriot is an acronym that stands for Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001 (USA Patriot Act). This act came in response to the September 11 terrorist attacks that left America pushing for our government to do that would prevent future terrorist attacks on our nation. The primary author of this bill was Assistant Attorney General Viet Dinh and was introduced to Congress by Republican Representative Jim Sensenbrenner (Grabianowski). The main goal of the Patriot Act is to prevent, deter and eventually punish any terrorist, including domestic, acts not only in the United States but...
Words: 1911 - Pages: 8
...affected the definition of the right to privacy more than any other right provided for under the Constitution. Technological advances have triggered many privacy right cases imputing infringement of Fourth Amendment rights. Many of these types of privacy infringement cases involve, among others, wire-tapping, internet-tapping and other cyber crimes. The Fourth Amendment essentially protects the privacy of individuals from unwarranted govermental intrusion. This paper compares and contrast public safety versus civil rights issues based on the impact of technological advances on individual privacy rights. Lost in the Matrix Introduction Technological advances have created ground-breaking ways in which individual privacy can be infringed upon. These innovative technological advances have, among other novel affects, increased the ability to gather and share information. This increased ability has nearly made it impossible to retain privacy. Database systems have become so advanced that much more information can be stored on these databases worldwide leaving individuals with no method of knowing or controlling what type of information about themselves are being accessed. Information privacy has become a major privacy rights issue in the criminal justice system. This paper compares and contrast public safety versus civil rights issues based on the impact of technological advances on individual privacy rights. Privacy Rights Laws While the right to privacy is not explicitly...
Words: 1027 - Pages: 5
...Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism (USA Patriot Act) Act of 2001,” and was passed only 45 days after the terrorist attacks. There are many arguments on whether or not the Patriot Act is designed to work for the better of the world, or to take away many of the civil liberties that belong to citizens of the United States. On the surface, it seems like the Patriot Act is working towards the right goal: “To deter and punish terrorist acts in the United States and around the world, to enhance law enforcement investigatory tools, and for other purposes.” However, many would argue that the last two objectives of the act (the majority of the act) have been taken too far. A closer look at the Patriot Act reveals well intended items, some of which also having consequences. Section 101 of the first title, Enhancing Domestic Security Against Terrorism, of the Patriot Act (USA Patriot Act) creates what is known as the Counterterrorism Fund. This fund is set up to recover costs that are spent in association with terrorism. The only drawback to the fund is that there is no limit to the spending. Section 102 condemns discrimination against Americans of Arab, Muslim, and Southern Asian decent. The first part of the section is Congress’s findings, such as “Arab Americans, Muslim Americans, and Americans from South Asia play a vital role in our Nation and are entitled to nothing less than the full rights of every American,” and “The acts of violence that have been taken...
Words: 1372 - Pages: 6
...new reality on the morning of September 11, 2001, when terrorists struck the American financial heart of New York. A seriously stunned country shocked by the level of brutality quickly assembled behind President Bush to pass legislation, known as the USA PATRIOT ACT, to tackle internal and external threats to this nation. Because this new legislation was passed into law with extreme haste, it was controversial immediately. Even though this legislation was passed...
Words: 1763 - Pages: 8
