What Are The Pros And Cons Of The Patriot Act

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Debating the USA PATRIOT Act t[1] Abstract After the attacks on September 11, 2001, the United States Department of Justice revealed plans for legislation aimed at giving government authorities far-reaching oversight powers to prevent and protect against terrorist activities. On October 26, 2001, Public Law 107-56, Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism, also known as the USA PATRIOT Act, went into effect. Among other provisions, this legislation gave federal agents the ability to detain non-citizens, increase wiretaps, initiate e-mail and Internet surveillance, and intensify the monitoring of student…show more content…
The paper will endeavor to find documentation that answers such questions as: who benefits from the provisions of the USA PATRIOT Act; who is harmed; what evidence exists that political rhetoric played a part in the passage of the USA PATRIOT Act; where are we now; have we gone too…show more content…
The key provisions will be identified along with their meanings to both governmental agencies and the average citizen. Section 203 (b) and (d) information sharing: allows information from criminal probes to be shared with intelligence agencies and other parts of the government. These provisions are at the heart of the effort to break down the barriers that used to separate criminal and intelligence investigations. The United States Justice Department has frequently blamed these barriers for the failure to find and detain September 11th hijackers prior to the attacks. CIA agents had information significantly prior to the attacks that some of the hijackers were in the United States and were suspected terrorists, but the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) claims they did not receive the information until August

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