Running Head: THE PATRIOT ACT OF THE US THE PATRIOT ACT OF THE US THE PATRIOT ACT OF THE US Abstract This project will research the USA PATRIOT Act including its history and the impact the act has had on the American citizens` rights. The paper will also determine the different provisions found in the Act. After determining the Bill`s wording, this research will look at whether the rights and the constitution of the American citizens are violated by the provisions. This paper will also find out the different reauthorizations performed to the law including changes to the provisions. The advantages and disadvantages of the law are going to be explored and the conclusion will determine the law`s constitutionality and if it is easy to take the government`s powers gained and check if the power has shifted to an extent of not going back now. Thesis Statement The PATRIOT Act analysis will tell if the Act was written with genuine interest of the US citizens or it was written with the aim of stripping off our rights that are taken for granted by many individuals. Body The USA PATRIOT Act was new legislation that was formed by the Government agencies and the public to respond to the growing fears of an attack that they had during the September 11th, 2001 terrorist attacks. The USA PATRIOT acronym stands for “Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism”. The Bill was meant for implementing policies and plans with the aim of preventing a terrorist attack on our country in the near future. The Bill was also intended for the implementation of policies and plans for our citizens and interests throughout the globe (USA PATRIOT Act, 2017). There exist some controversial provisions in the power of conducting seizures and searches with the absence of “probable cause”, the gathering and interception of private communication involving text messages, email and voice call as well as the indefinite detention of terrorists who are suspected. It enabled easy access to an individual`s medical and financial records and fewer restrictions are involved in accessing court documents. The PATRIOT Act was signed by President George W. Bush on October 26, 2001, and the act was made a necessity for keeping us safe from attacks that may occur in the future. However, there was an emergence of some concerns where some civil liberties were ignored by the Act. The law has been altered time and again since it was enacted. According to McCarthy (2002), the Act is divided into nine categories namely surveillance, prevention of terrorism by anti-money laundering practices, improved intelligence, domestic security against terrorism, putting away judicial obstacles to investigation, border security, victims of terrorism compensation, establishment of criminal law of terrorism and terrorism classification as criminal offense. The surveillance provision has particularly brought problems regarding rights. Restrict.

1. Running Head: THE PATRIOT ACT OF THE US
THE PATRIOT ACT OF THE US
THE PATRIOT ACT OF THE US
Abstract
This project will research the USA PATRIOT Act including its
history and the impact the act has had on the American citizens`
rights. The paper will also determine the different provisions
found in the Act. After determining the Bill`s wording, this
research will look at whether the rights and the constitution of
the American citizens are violated by the provisions. This paper
will also find out the different reauthorizations performed to the
law including changes to the provisions. The advantages and
disadvantages of the law are going to be explored and the
conclusion will determine the law`s constitutionality and if it is
easy to take the government`s powers gained and check if the
power has shifted to an extent of not going back now.
Thesis Statement
The PATRIOT Act analysis will tell if the Act was written with
genuine interest of the US citizens or it was written with the
aim of stripping off our rights that are taken for granted by
many individuals.
Body
The USA PATRIOT Act was new legislation that was formed by
the Government agencies and the public to respond to the
growing fears of an attack that they had during the September
11th, 2001 terrorist attacks. The USA PATRIOT acronym
stands for “Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing
Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct
Terrorism”. The Bill was meant for implementing policies and
plans with the aim of preventing a terrorist attack on our
country in the near future. The Bill was also intended for the

2. implementation of policies and plans for our citizens and
interests throughout the globe (USA PATRIOT Act, 2017).
There exist some controversial provisions in the power of
conducting seizures and searches with the absence of “probable
cause”, the gathering and interception of private communication
involving text messages, email and voice call as well as the
indefinite detention of terrorists who are suspected. It enabled
easy access to an individual`s medical and financial records and
fewer restrictions are involved in accessing court documents.
The PATRIOT Act was signed by President George W. Bush
on October 26, 2001, and the act was made a necessity for
keeping us safe from attacks that may occur in the future.
However, there was an emergence of some concerns where some
civil liberties were ignored by the Act. The law has been altered
time and again since it was enacted.
According to McCarthy (2002), the Act is divided into nine
categories namely surveillance, prevention of terrorism by anti-
money laundering practices, improved intelligence, domestic
security against terrorism, putting away judicial obstacles to
investigation, border security, victims of terrorism
compensation, establishment of criminal law of terrorism and
terrorism classification as criminal offense. The surveillance
provision has particularly brought problems regarding rights.
Restrictions were specifically eased to the Foreign Intelligence
Surveillance Act (FISA) and allowed surveillance to be
conducted more freely by the government (Kerr, 2002)
During this time internal conflicts between the National
Security Agency (NSA) and the Central Intelligence Agency
(CIA) which disrupted the flow of information. The commercial
planes were easily taken control of by hijackers with box cutters
which raised concern and revealed to the world how easy it was
to bypass our security measures. The PATRIOT Act was aimed
at enhancing security for protecting us against these threats but
it has however been criticized since it overhauled procedures of
investigation that threatened the American citizens` privacy
(Gouvin, 2003)

3. The approval of the PATRIOT Act led to the removal of the
requirement of ” probable cause” by the Bush administration
that was established by the Smith Act of 1940 for obtaining a
search warrant. The Immigration and Naturalization Service
(INS) was allowed to arrest individuals who had no warrant and
detained them indefinitely by pressing no charge against them.
Section 215(d) of the PATRIOT Act suppresses information to
release about the government`s investigation regarding the
government`s issuance of mandatory gag orders. It has been
named the “secrecy clause” and has prevented individuals from
holding the government accountable for its deeds. Section
215(d) of the PATRIOT Act has given authority to the FBI to
prevent the public from accessing information from any library
database. It has ignored civil liberties by operating in the
shadows which are not affected by the scrutiny of the law or
public.
Section 213 has allowed the government to carry out a “sneak
and peak” seizures and search without probable cause where the
searches were done on ordinary US citizens who committed
crimes not related to terrorism. Title II allows the government
to collect foreign intelligence information on both Americans
and non-American citizens. It resulted in the removal of legal
barriers between the operations of surveillance and criminal
investigations and removed the government`s requirement for
proving that the target is not the US. Title III was established
for the purpose of preventing terrorists from getting funding for
their operations. It enabled the finding and prosecution of
money launders by law enforcers and expanded the instruments
for recording keeping in the institutions. It allowed for seizing
of individuals` property and money for any reason and made it
mandatory for reporting of suspicious transactions by financial
institutions.
Title IV gave vast investigative powers to INS and the United
States Attorney General. New standards for conducting
background checks, determining identities and visa eligibility
were developed. Title V allowed paying rewards concerning

4. collection and prevention of terrorist activities. Education
information can be collected by the Attorney General from
institutions if there is a likelihood of the records to contain
information concerning the occurrence of terrorist action.
Information given by any of educational institution in a case
like this is termed immunity. National Security Letters (NSLs)
are used by CIA and FBI and other departments for collecting
records, data and information regarding certain individuals or
organizations Title VII enables law enforcers to easily
communicate across jurisdictions for protection of critical
infrastructure. Changes in the definition of terrorism were made
by Title VIII. Title IX dealt with the improvement of
intelligence gathering and distribution to ascertain the efficient
working of the agents. Title X enabled the creation of grants for
first responders to fund instruments and training needed to
prevent terrorism.
Conclusion
The PATRIOT Act consisted of both good and bad elements.
In a way, it assisted in securing our borders and making it
harder for our enemies to complete their goals against us. It
allowed the shifting of the focus of concern by the Government
from American Civil Liberties to untrue security sense by
removing our privacy completely. The PATRIOT Act got praise
from many individuals but immediately they read the details and
saw the outcomes, they noted that it was used as a political
weapon. The unconstitutional gang orders provided a little
evidence of the misuse of authorities by the government but
since the inaction of the PATRIOT Act, there is no or very little
evidence that the government has done to keep our country safer
(Whitehead & Aden, 2001)
Individuals who propose the PATRIOT Act argue that it is
necessary to give some of our liberties for the Government to
monitor everything in safety`s name. Individuals who oppose
the PATRIOT Act say that it is not the right way for us to give
up freedom for matters of security. The constitution says that it
is the work of the government to protect our citizens and

5. interests both from outside the country and from within.
References
Gouvin, E. J. (2003). Bringing out the big guns: the USA patriot
act, money laundering, and the war on terrorism. Baylor L.
Rev., 55, 955.
USA PATRIOT Act. (2017). Retrieved from
https://www.britannica.com/topic/USA-PATRIOT-Act
McCarthy, M. T. (2002). USA Patriot Act.
Whitehead, J. W., & Aden, S. H. (2001). Forfeiting enduring
freedom for homeland security: A constitutional analysis of the
USA Patriot Act and the Justice Department's anti-terrorism
initiatives. Am. UL Rev., 51, 1081.
Kerr, O. S. (2002). Internet surveillance law after the USA
Patriot Act: The big brother that isn't. Nw. UL Rev., 97, 607.
5