The patriot act

The patriot act was formulated after the 9/11 terrorist attack is an embodiment of the swift reaction of the executive as well as legislative branches that were after the deadliest terrorist strike on American soil. The core issues surrounding the Patriot Act revolve around the issues of privacy and government surveillance (Taylor, Fritsch & Liederbach, 2014). The assertion in this is that the fourth amendment to the US constitution offers protection for the right of the people to be secure in their persons, papers, houses, and effects against any issues f unreasonable searches and seizures.

There additionally is the issue of lack of effectiveness of the Patriot Act, in that its overall effectiveness has been challenged on numerous occasions and has been despised. There additionally are cases where it has been held that the terrorist attacks on the 9/11 were an isolated incident and that the reason that has not been more attacks is due to the might of the national military and not the acts that have been passed (Greenwald, 2013).

 The assertion that the Patriot Act is a waste of vital resources by government agencies is the additional challenge faced in the effecting of the act. The assertion is supported by the fact that the patriot act not only allocated precious resources to authorities in tracking American citizens but allows the tracking of the US citizens who have chosen to move overseas (Greenwald, 2013). The strategy has been considered as a waste of government funds by the individuals who are against the act.

The offering of too much authority to the government is the additional issue in that opponent of the Act believes that it is possible to prevent terrorist attacks without giving sweeping authority to government agencies (Greenwald, 2013). Issues of unlawful imprisonment have additionally riddled the execution of the patriot act by government agencies, with the main component being in its allowing for the existence of Guantanamo Bay. The assertion is that even the individuals who supported the existence of Guantanamo Bay have had to accept that imprisoning those who have been suspected of terrorism without giving them the due process was not an objective of the patriot act (Taylor, Fritsch & Liederbach, 2014).

Issues of unlawful detainment, as well as the lack of rights for counsel, are the additional issues riddling the execution of the patriot act. The assertion, in this case, is that for a country that prides itself with possession of fair legal processes and land of the free, the authority granted to government agencies promotes unjust practices (Greenwald, 2013). There are cases whereby people of different nationalities have been detained without valid reasons for the capture of even allows to access legal counsel.

In resolving most these issues and violations that have existed under the patriot act, the courts have been compelled to step in and mediate on some of these issues. Some of these interventions have seen the court rule that the patriot act does not authorize the collection of domestic phone records. The courts have additionally come in to address the issues of unwarranted search and seizures that had become a norm in the execution of the patriot act. The Congress has further played a significant role in addressing the issues that have been raised in the patriot act, through the evaluation of the constitutional implication of the other surveillance activities. The evaluation has been targeted at the activities that have adversely affected free expression as well as privacy of the American citizens.

References

Greenwald, G. (2013). NSA collecting phone records of millions of Verizon customer daily. The Guardian, 6(5), 13.

Taylor, R. W., Fritsch, E. J., & Liederbach, J. (2014). Digital crime and digital terrorism.   Prentice Hall Press.

Carolyn Morgan is the author of this paper. A senior editor at MeldaResearch.Com in research paper writing services if you need a similar paper you can place your order from Top American Writing Services.