The Freedom Act

THREE OR FOUR REFERENCES

The USA Patriot Act is a policy that was enacted because of the Terrorist Acts that happened on September 11th, 2001. Citizens were afraid after the attacks, so the government formed a policy to help protect the United States against potential future terrorist attacks (Act 2001). The USA Patriot Act also strives to detect Terrorist Acts in other parts of the world and protect from terrorist attacks (Act 2001).

There have been more security measures since the act was created. The security measures are ultimately for the Safety of American citizens, but are also in place to assist with safety in the rest of the world. One area that has major security measures are airports, domestic and international, so what happened on September 11th will never happen again.

Policies are put in place to protect citizens, but some policies have been criticized for violating civil rights. The Patriot Act states that the government can conduct searches without a warrant and do not have to have to have probable cause (Act 2001). That is a violation of people’s privacy and of the constitution because amendments were put in place to protect citizen rights. The act mostly seems to target people who are not United States citizens for stricter searches, United States citizens are also subject to impromptu searches. The government was shown to go overboard by monitoring many citizens’ phone calls and also by requesting sales receipts from many retailors to monitor what citizens are buying (Forsyth 2015). Safety is important but monitoring phone calls and sales transactions without just cause is not necessary.

The act has been effective in the United States and has helped to protect the Unites States from terrorism. Terrorist still occurs in other parts of the world, but it is also impossible to completely stop all acts of terrorism before they happen. People may not agree with all of the additional security in public places, such as airports and stadiums but the extra measures have helped save lives. The act should be equal, but some people are searched more than others because of who they are and how they look. The act is not ethical because it invaded people’s privacy and made them lose trust in the government. Citizens will not respect the government is they do not think that the government respects them.

The Freedom Act was signed in 2015 and ended many of the unnecessary sections of the Patriot Act, including unnecessary surveillance and bulk collections that many policy makers and citizens did not agree with (Freedom 2015).  The act promotes transparency, so important information is shared   with the public. The act is not perfect does, but it does cater more to the American Public and it does address some issues that were present in the Patriot Act.

References

Forsyth, B. (2015). Banning bulk: Passage of the USA FREEDOM act and ending bulk collection. Washington and Lee Law Review, 72(3), 1307-1341.

https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy1.apus.edu/docview/1756930746?pq-origsite=summon&accountid=8289

Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct  Terrorism Act of 2001. (2001). Public Law

https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/PLAW-107publ56/pdf/PLAW-107publ56.pdf

USA Freedom Act. (2015). Judiciary Committee.

https://judiciary.house.gov/issue/usa-freedom-act/