Patriot Act

Patriot Act

Patriot Act
Beth Roach
College Success Seminar
May 7, 2011

Lisa Fritcher on her web page explains “USA PATRIOT is an acronym for Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism. Generally referred to as the Patriot Act, it was signed into law with little debate or congress review only 43 days after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. In the wake of the tragedy, it seemed to only make sense for sweeping policy changes to be put into effect to help fight the War on Terror.”
The Patriot Act stream lines the process in which intelligence agencies can collect information on potential threats to Americans. This Act allows for warrant less wire taps if a threat is deemed imminent to citizens of the United States. It allows for information that is collected to be used in the court of law without warrants. It provides increased funding for compensation of victims of terrorist attacks. It gives funding to rebuild businesses and infrastructure that are destroyed by terrorism. The Patriot Act allows law enforcement to conduct investigations without tipping off terrorists. It increases the penalties for those convicted of committing terrorist acts against Americans.
National Public Radio (NPR) states that “the Patriot Act allows information from criminal probes to be shared with local law enforcement, intelligence agencies, and other parts of the government. Pros of this are that the provisions have greatly enhanced information sharing within the FBI, and with the intelligence community at large. A con of this is believed to be that unrestricted sharing could lead to the development of massive databases about citizens who are not the targets of criminal investigations. “
NPR also says “the Act requires one wiretap authorization to cover multiple devices. This eliminates the need for separate court warrants for a suspect's cell phone and computer. The pro of this part is that roving... [continues]

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