patriots act
...t was created to protect. There are many constraints on the act that were imposed by Congress. For example, Section 412 of the act “allows the attorney general to detain non-citizens for a period of seven days if they are suspected of terrorism” (Levy, 2003). Initially the Justice Department sought the “right to detain individuals suspected of terrorism indefinitely” (Levy, 2003). Many argue that Congress did not in fact impose strict enough legislation limiting the right of the government to detain suspects, because expanded detention is still possible (Levy, 2003). There are people within the U.S. that have argued that currently there are individuals that have been detained that were “allegedly being held in solitary confinement even though they hadn’t been charged with a criminal defense” (Levy, 2003). The court system does not help promote clarity related to the patriot act. In fact, as of now the Supreme Court has stated that detainees should not be held indefinitely, but should instead be “deported within a period of time or released” (Levy, 2003). The courts also argue that everyone, U.S. citizens and non-citizens, should still be guaranteed the right to “due process” under the law (Levy, 2003). There are those that believe that the Patriot Act infringes on the civil liberties and rights of citizens and non-citizens alike. Many claim that the act is simply a “weakening of human rights in the United States” (McClintock, 2003). The culture of the U.S. is one that promotes civil rights, the freedom of association, assembly, free trials and the freedom from discrimination among other things. The culture of the U.S. and national opinion imposes constraints on the act because many critics argue that since inception of the act, “every aspect of human rights protection in the United States has been called into question” (McClintock, 2003). The act has brought to light the need to bring “international standards into American courtrooms” (McClintock, 2003). Many view the act as “an intrusion by the government into public and private life” (McClintock, 2003). The USA Patriot act was passed as “emergency legislation”, and gave the president of the U.S. the right to “use all necessary and appropriate force against those nations he determines planned, or aided in the terrorist acts, in order to prevent future acts of international terrorism.” (McClintock, 2003). The act “accomplishes” many things, including making vulnerable private citizens home and property to search and seizure without due process or explanation (McClintock, 2003). Also limiting are budgetary issues regarding funding for terrorist reduction plans. The cost of terrorism, the resulting casualties, disaster relief programs and continued governance of the act is high (Johnson et.al, 2003). Also limiting is “fragmentation among intelligence activities of the federal government” who are currently supposed to be working together to combat terrorist threats (Johnson, et.al, 2003). These agencies should be working together coherently, yet at present time they are exhibiting a lack of ability to “effectively collect and employ anti-terrorism intelligence information” (Johnson et.al, 2003). This issue may be resolved by more directed communication, long term planning and agreement of priorities between intelligence agencies. Of additional benefit would be an intelligence sharing information systems program that would enable agencies to compare the potential information and compare costs (Johnson et.al, 2003). Funding objectives might be achieved through sponsorship of anti-terrorist initiatives. Some have suggested that the development of an “Intelligence Community System for Information Sharing (ICSIS) program would alleviate some of the cost constraints associated with implementing the act to its fullest extent, and also alleviate obstacles to communication between intelligence agencies (Johnson et. al, 2003). Funding for such a program could be raised by independent agencies as well as the intelligence community itself. Policy alternatives for improving the provisions of the Patriot Act...