The Patriot Act

Patriot Act

The many precautions the government has taken to prevent terrorist attacks has breached the amendments in order to stop the hate acts against America. It was unclear to the people how bad hatred was for the United States until the terrorists attacks of 9/11. The destruction of the terrorist attack brought citizens into fear. The measure the government has taken to protect the United States has also put some people into fear. Fear that their First Amendment rights are being violated. The Patriot Act offers many steps and methods for tracking terrorists more accurately. In doing so it has crossed the line of our rights as U.S. citizens. It clearly shows the government has limitless power for taking any routes necessary for obtaining information or leading to the arrest of any one involved in terrorism.

Two months after the 9/11 attacks, President Bush and congress cleared and signed The Patriot Act. Over twelve hundred arrests were made, predominately of Muslim origin and some were held for months on no or little evidence. Stephen Henderson, an assistant professor of law at Chicago's Kent Law school says "They've gone way overboard here because the government can hold some one as long as they like. Period". The government is taking this very seriously and so many were detained and taken in for questioning. Even though the government claims that the suspects that have been detained for probable cause on some suspicion, because they had pilots licenses and others because they were linked to terrorists or information of terrorist acts. They still have the option of pinning anything they want on them and be able to consider it probable cause.

The one area where the provisions of the act works best is in privatized or confidential areas. These types of businesses are most likely at risk. The provisions of the acts allow the government to gain access to the otherwise confidential documents without the consent or even telling their customers because they are federal government. Patriot Act's section 215 and 505 say "allow federal government to require voluminous and often sensitive records...without [public] or judicial oversight or other meaningful checks on the government's power". Corporate and business groups have battle over how much it is unsettling to their customers that if requested their trading secrets or financial data and other proprietary information would at risk.

The patriot act was put into effect by the government to help prevent terrorists from further pursuing acts of terrorism. Republican attorney general John Ashcroft said, "Our efforts have been crafted