USA Patriot Act the Purpose Term Paper

The effect is that exclusion is not only applied to those who would hurt the government but also to those that would uphold the same. The Patriot Act provides facilitation of shared information as well as cooperation between agencies of the government in order for all the pieces of the puzzle to fit together. The Act moves aside the barriers that have Constitutionally speaking prevented the police, intelligence as well as national defense from passing along information from one department to another and coordinating their efforts in order to provide protection to the American people as well as providing protection to the national security of the United States. Prosecutors can now share evidence obtained through grand juries with intelligence officials -- and intelligence information can now be shared more easily with federal prosecutors, of which the DOJ explains, "such sharing of information leads to concrete results."

The law has been updated to reflect new technologies and new threats. For example, the DOJ states that when investigating the murder of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl, law enforcement used one of the Act's new authorities to use high-tech applications in the identification and location of Pearl's killers. This is one example of the abilities granted in Section 3 of the Act in allowing law enforcement officials to obtain a search warrant anywhere a terrorist-related activity occurred or was even suspected to have occurred.

While the onset of the Act was to protect America from terrorists' attacks, among other safeguards, the aftermath of the enactment has presented a myriad of controversies.

In fact, former White House Chief of Staff (1998-2001), John Podesta says, "One of the most striking features of the U.S.A. PATRIOT Act is the lack of debate surrounding its introduction. Many of the provisions of the Act relating to electronic surveillance were proposed before September 11th, and were subject to much criticism and debate."

Conclusion:

It would behoove all American Citizens to keep a close watch on the progression of the U.S.A. Patriot Act as time moves on to see what kind of liberties that will be taken with the Constitutional guarantees vested in each and every individual American Citizen.

Bibliography

Forfeiting "Enduring Freedom" for "Homeland Security" (2001) a Constitutional Analysis of the U.S.A. Patriot Act of 2001 and the Justice Department's Anti-Terrorism Initiatives.

U.S. Patriot Act. H.R. 3162: 107th Congress, 1st Session; United States Senate, October 24, 2001.

Podesta, John. "USA Patriot Act: The Good, the Bad, and the Sunset." Human Rights Magazine, Winter 2002. Available online:

http://www.abanet.org/irr/hr/winter02/podesta.html. Accessed November 28, 2004.

USA Patriot Act Overview." U.S. Department of Justice. Available online: www.lifeandliberty.gov/patriot_overview_pversion.pdf.

Privacy and the U.S.A. Patriot Act." Implications for British Columbia Public Sector Outsourcing: Information & Privacy Commissioner for British Columbia, October 2004. Available online: www.oipcbc.org/sector_public/usa_ patriot_ act/pdfs/report/privacy-final.pdf.

ACLU and EPIC v. Department of Justice, Civil Action No. 02-2077 [D.D.C.]. Available online: http://www.epicorg/privacy/terrorism/usapatriot/foia/. Accessed November 28, 2004.

2003 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act Annual Report [Referenced in letter from William E. Moschella, Assistant Attorney General, to L. Ralph Mecham, Director Administrative office of the United States Courts in Washington]. The U.S. Department of Justice Office of Legislature Affairs. Available online:

http://www.epic.org/privacy/terrorism/fisa/2003_report.pdf. Accessed November 28, 2004. (Testimony of Attorney General Ashcroft December 6, 2001)

The USA Patriot Act