Criticism and civil liberties concerns in the USA Patriot Act

¶ … PATRIOT Act

The USA Patriot Act was passed in a hurry by the House of Representatives and the Senate in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, and signed into law by President George W. Bush on October 26, 2001. The Act was immediately attacked by the civil libertarians as unnecessary and violative of the U.S. Constitution. The U.S. administration and the Justice Department defend the law vehemently, considering it necessary for security reasons. This paper focuses on the criticism of the Patriot Act and the problems faced in its application. It also reviews the current public opinion about the Act.

Criticism of the Act

The leading critic of the PATRIOT Act has been the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) which has campaigned vigorously to get it overturned. Several other local and national civil liberty organizations across the country have also passed resolution against the law reflecting their disapproval. Some of the major criticisms against the Act are as follows:

Passed without Proper Scrutiny

The bill is a complex and lengthy document that makes small as well as large changes to over 15 different statutes. The short time that the bill took to be passed and signed into law indicates that it was not thoroughly discussed and several Congress members have admitted that they did not read the bill while passing it. A number of key procedural processes applicable to most proposed laws, including inter-agency review, and normal committee and hearing processes were suspended during the passage of this bill. ("EFF Analysis...," 2003)

Records Searches

Section 215 of the Act expands the government's ability to look at records on an individual's activity being held by third parties. ("Surveillance under..." 2003)

Secret Searches

Section 213 of the Act allows the government to search private property without notice to the owner. Since giving of notice to a searched person is a key component of Fourth Amendment, this provision arguably violates the Amendment.

Intelligence Searches

Section 218 expands a narrow exception to the Fourth Amendment that had been created for the collection of foreign intelligence information. Now the FBI can engage in secret searches without having to prove "probable cause" of a crime -- another violation of the Fourth Amendment requirements. (Lithwick and Turner, Part 3, 2003)

Application of the Act

Although the Justice Department claims that the PATRIOT Act has been largely responsible for the prevention of further terrorist attacks in the United States since 9/11 (see the official website of the Justice Department), the application of the Act has made the U.S. more of a "police state" than ever before. Provisions in the Patriot Act such as Sections 411 and 412 that allow detention and deportation of aliens without court rulings or judicial review mean that immigrants are now living in a general state of fear. They way over-zealous law enforcement officers apply the Act on immigrants remains largely uncovered by the main-stream press. Shocking stories of such abuse, however, filter out sometimes. For example, a vivid eye-witness account of a PATRIOT-authorized police raid on an Indian restaurant appears in the Alternet. (Halperin, 2003).

Current Opinions

President George W. Bush repeatedly declared during his re-election campaign that he would press for making the Patriot Act a permanent law by asking the Congress to do away with its Sunset provisions. He continues to consider this as one of the priorities of his administration in its second term. ("Bush Sees Patriot Act Renewal as Key Goal," 2004) Even more alarming is a much more draconian draft act, dubbed as PATRIOT II, which had leaked to the press last winter. After receiving considerable criticism, the draft Act was not put up in the Congress. However, its proponents (including the Attorney General John Ashcroft, who has on more than one occasion called for the enactment of more strict laws than the current Patriot I) have not given up the hope to get the Act passed during the current Bush term. As for the public opinion on the Patriot Act, it remains sharply divided, largely because the American people are torn between a desire for enhanced security and their love for civil liberties.