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U.S. Patriot Act

USA PATRIOT ACT

The USA Patriot Act is an act signed by President Bush on October 26 , 2001 . It was a 342-page long bill which made changes to over 15 different statutes and underwent many changes in its name before it was passed as an Act . It was passed due to the extremely heinous devastation caused in America by terrorists on September 11 , 2001 . This civilians gave the Congress little time to react and they , in a matter of just five weeks , drafted and passed the Act

This act , which was passed

after 45 days of the calamity , was very crucial to prevent further criminal activities in the world in general and America in particular . The five weeks ' time was not sufficient enough for it to undergo the usual procedures like a debate or a testimony by experts from various fields which this Act affected . The key ceremonial procedures applicable to every law were not followed in this case . There were many flaws in this Act . With the passage of the Act , there is always the fear that the private information of innocent Americans can anytime be collected on the pretext of investigations by the Law Enforcement with their phones being tapped and their Internet usage being monitored . The right to privacy with regard to online communications is greatly compromised with the passage of this Act . The online activities of any American can be monitored by the government , if need be , even without their knowledge The civil rights advocates feel that the expansion of surveillance powers of Law Enforcement is not justified , especially when there is no proof showing that the terrorist act of September 11 could have been averted with tougher surveillance laws . Also , this Act fell heavily on the immigrants from Arab and South Asian countries . Not only did they have to face the wrath and hostility of the Americans following the attack , they also were a target of the law enforcement authorities Empowering the authorities with greater freedom through the Act only had a drastic effect on the innocent Muslims and other immigrants

Many of the provisions of the act have no relevance to preventing terrorism . With the Intelligence Officers having the authority to barge in anywhere , anytime in the name of a search , the lives of the Americans were no more normal . Even their liberties were at stake . The Act which was supposed to guarantee and safeguard the lives and liberty of the people itself was becoming a threat to them . Without prior information , they could now plunge into any house on the pretext of a search . This act tremendously allowed the investigators to observe people in their unvarying performance of duty and among that category , the libraries were the most affected . The registers were frequently scrutinized to see if anyone suspected with criminal history had frequented the library . Though it was done with a noble objective , it was not welcome . The library authorities were asked for confidential information of their members . This was not in...

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