Criminal Justice

CRIMINAL JUSTICE

The Patriot Act 2006

The Patriot Act

The signing of the Patriot Act into law

One consequence of the 9-11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon was the creation of the Patriot Act

The Act , passed six weeks after the September 11 , 2001 terrorist attacks , was created as a measure to safeguard American citizens from such future attacks as well to reduce drug related criminal acts . The law was authored by the then Attorney General , John Ashcroft . The law gave assurance that by granting

the Federal Government broad new investigative powers , it would assist in rooting out terrorists living in America (Halloran , par . 1

Such increase in power includes an extension of the reach of National Security Letters . The letters were authorized by a law passed by Congress in 1986 and could only be approved by a high-ranking FBI official who was in pursuit of an agent of foreign power (Willing par . 4 . The Patriot Act now permits non-FBI agents to issue these letters (Schmitt , par . 11

Liz Halloran , in her article for the U .S . News and World Report (par 2 , also identifies other ways in which the law gave enforcement agencies and prosecutors additional tools . These include

Intelligence sharing

Ant-money laundering powers

Roving , single-warrant wiretaps

In an August 2003 address to law enforcement personnel , John Ashcroft mentioned three areas in which these tools have provided security that ensures liberty for the American citizenry (Ashcroft , par . 19

The Act provides critical investigative tools to law enforcement officers

This includes court-approved access to business records thereby protecting against international terrorism or clandestine intelligence activities

It brings anti-terrorism laws up to date with modern technology

An example is through the use of roving wire taps (which have been in use since 1986 for tracking drug dealers

The Act has expanded the capacity to build strong teams that share information and fight terrorism together

With the help of the Act , just 5 months after it was passed , John Ashcroft reports success in dismantling four alleged terrorist cells in Buffalo , Detroit , Seattle and Portland . Also , 132 individuals were convicted or pled guilty . This number includes the shoe bomber , Richard Reid , the American Taliban John Walker Lindh , six members of the Buffalo cell and two members of the Detroit cell

In another press release on the 7th of March 2006 , Representative Mike Pence (member of Crime , Terrorism and Homeland Security Subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee ) mentions more successes attributable to the Patriot Act . Against a backdrop of post 9-11 attacks like those on buses and subway cars in London , on commuter trains in Madrid , hotel bombings in Amman and nightclub bombings in Bali , he recounts the successes attributable to the Act . Such successes include upsetting an al Qaeda attack on an office tower in Los Angeles , the break up of terror cells in Portland , Oregon and Lackawanna , New York

The New Patriot Act

The Patriot Act has been subject to much debate and was extended twice up...