Patriot Act Infringments
...troy evidence, intimidate, or kill witnesses, cut off contact with associates, or take other action to evade arrest,” as stated by http://www.lifeandliberty.gov/. In the end, notice is always provided, but delayed to prevent deaths, and to help the case. The courts find this fully constitutional. The final part of the first part of the Patriot Act allows federal agents to obtain business records in national security terrorism cases. This allows them to track bank accounts, records of different stores you bought from, library books, websites you have visited, and so on. We have been to do so before, but with subpoenas and long processes. The second part of the Patriot Act also has many significant purposes. Government agencies are now allowed to share information among each others. By doing so, they are now able to “connect the dots” of any terrorist plots before they are able to be completed. Prosecutors are now able to share evidence through grand juries with intelligence officials. We are also able to share intelligence information with federal prosecutors. An example of this would be the federal grand jury indicting Sami al-Arian, in Florida, for supposedly being a U.S. leader of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. This is one of the world’s most violent terrorists group. They are responsible for murdering more than 100 innocent people, along with an American named Alisa Flatow. She was killed in a tragic bus bombing in Gaza. The indictment of Sami al-Arian was possible because of the Patriot Act allowing us to share all information between the prosecutors and investigators. The third part of the Patriot Act updated the law. The law was behind time compared to the new technologies and threats. One example of the update would be in the murder case of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl, where the authorities were able to use high-tech means to identify and locate some of the killers. Before the Patriot Act law enforcement had to obtain different search warrants for many different districts because terrorists group usually had many districts that they worked in. Now because of the Patriot Act, they only have to obtain one search warrant for anywhere a terrorist-related activity occurred, no matter where they will be executed. It does not change the standards of obtaining a search warrant, but instead shortens the process in other words. The final part of this third section makes it possible for computer hacker victims to receive law enforcement assistance. The law enforcement now can help them monitor the trespassers on their computers. The last part of the Patriot Act strengthened the punishment for terrorist crimes. They now have higher stake penalties. These penalties are for anyone who commits the crime, whether or not they one to follow the terrorist acts through or if they are the ones buying the supplies for the attacks. The act also does not allow anyone to shelter anyone that is going to or has already committed a terrorist crime. This part of the act also increased the maximum penalties for the different other little crimes committed by terrorist, such as arson, support to terrorists organizations, and so on. Besides actually committing the crimes, they can be penalized if they even have a conspiracy to commit these crimes. The Patriot Act even punishes bio-terrorists, terrorists on mass transit systems, and almost any terrorist crime you can imagine. This Patriot Act has strengthened most terrorist-related laws and protected our country in many different ways. The final part of the Patriot Act, has built a long term counter terrorism capacity since the attacks on September 11th. There have been around 1,000 new FBI agents dedicated to counter terrorism. Even some of the FBI agents have been redirected. The funds for counter terrorism had nearly tripled. We now have 250 new Assistant U.S. Attorneys. Besides 66 new Joint Terrorism Task Forces there has been a 337% increase in the staffing of those forces. Along with all of the other add ons, FBI Flying Squads have been created. They are used for rapid deployment to hot spots worldwide to help fight terrorism. Senator Russ Feingold said in one of his speeches as stated in Civil Liberties, “Our forefathers wrote a constitution of limited powers and an explicit Bill of Rights to protect liberties in times of wars as well as times of peace.” He went on to say, “If we lived in a country that allowed the police to search your home at anytime for any reasons; if we lived in a country that allowed your government to open your mail, eavesdrop on your phone conversations, or intercept your e-mail communications; if we lived in a country that allowed the government to hold people in jail indefinitely based on what they write or think, or based on mere suspicision that they are up to no good, then the government would no doubt discover and arrest more terrorists. But that probably would not be a country you would want to live in. In short, that would not be America.” Opponents of this act believe that the act defines terrorism in very broad terms. The protestors of the act have their argument that the government is in the process of establishing a police state that systematically eliminates our freedoms. This is very contradicting because when we’re fighting this war on terrorism it supposed to be fighting for the countries in which they do not have freedoms such as we are supposed to. Just as I said before, Bush seems to believe he’s going about these terrorist threats in the right way and others believe he is also. Defenders like to say that the most controversial parts of this act will expire in February 2005, but with the DSEA being proposed, they may be extended indefinitely. With the DSEA, Domestic Security Enhancement, or also known as the Patriot Act II it is also proposed to strengthen parts of the Patriot Act even more. I don’t have any names of actual defenders of the Patriot Act, but they are usually the ones out there saying that the act is to protect our country. Immigration is one of th...