Patriot Act

What is Freedom?

Imagine someone coming to your house and accusing you of partaking in anti-American activities. So they take you with them. Imagine being detained in a cell. You have lost track of the hours spent. You can't recall the day of the week, or the last time you slept. You aren't allowed any communication with your family or friends, but you have no idea what you did to deserve to be in such a position. All you can do is wait... Freedom in the United States has become increasingly constricted since September 11th, 2001. The attacks on the U.S affected us in many ways. It was a huge blow to our economy as well as tested the U.S.'s limits on our core freedoms. The attacks put fear into the hearts of Americans, and no one felt safe, even in our own country.

A little over a month after 9/11 congress passed the USA Patriot Act of 2001 with the intention of helping law enforcement act more effectively in investigating potential terrorists. The USA Patriot Act (acronym for "Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001") is 131 pages long, containing 10 titles, 150 sections, but only required 40 days to be enacted after the Presidential signature. "The USA Patriot Act broadly expands law enforcement's surveillance and investigative powers and represents one of the most significant threats to civil liberties in U.S. history."

The law dramatically expands the ability of states and the Federal Government to conduct surveillance of American citizens. The government can monitor an individual's web surfing records, use roaming wiretaps to monitor phone calls made by individuals in contact with the primary person being tapped, access Internet Service Provider records, and monitor the private records of people involved in legitimate investigations. This means that at any time the government has the right to monitor everything you do, from what library books you check out to websites you access. The Patriot Act is not limited to terrorism. The government can add samples to DNA databases for individuals convicted of any crime of violence. Government spying on suspected computer trespassers (not just terrorist suspects) requires no court order. Wiretaps are now allowed for any suspected violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, offering possibilities for government spying on any computer user.

The government also has the power to detain any person or persons of interest, until further notice. They do not have to provide the suspect with reasons either. They are forced to wait until the government decides how to handle the case and the person may never be informed of the reason they were being detained at all.

However, many associations and organizations such as American Library Association feel this act may do more harm to our country then good. They feel that the act infringes