#Does the patriot act abridge essential freedom series
Jena Baker McNeill is Policy Analyst for Homeland Security in the Douglas and Sarah Allison Center for Foreign Policy Studies, a division of the Kathryn and Shelby Cullom Davis Institute for International Studies, at The Heritage Foundation.A debate-style reader provides an introduction to a series of controversial political issues, followed by arguments presenting opposing viewpoints on the topic
As long as lawmakers keep a vigilant eye on police authority, the federal courts remains open, and the debate about governmental conduct is a vibrant part of the American dialogue, the risk of excessive encroachment on our fundamental liberties is minimal. The key to the PATRIOT Act is empowering government to do the right things while exercising oversight to prevent any abuse of authority. Tying the hands of investigators through more procedural safeguards would not make the country any safer.
Despite repeated attempts to demonstrate abuse, little evidence has been proffered to demonstrate that the provisions in the act have been misused. Resist initiatives to erode key provisions.
Congress should permanently incorporate these tools into the broader counterterrorism framework. This should also include reauthorization of Section 6001 of the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act (also known as the “lone wolf provision”). Reauthorize the PATRIOT Act sunset provisions.Adding more hoops for investigators to jump through-in time-sensitive investigations-would kill the law’s ability to fulfill its very purpose: to help stop terrorism. However, Congress has extensively modified and tailored the act over the years, adding new safeguards with substantial court oversight. Opponents of the PATRIOT Act have repeatedly sought to repeal the act’s provisions or hamstring the act with yet another set of bureaucratic hoops. However, careful monitoring and vigilant oversight are oftentimes the answer to potential abuses of power-not all-out prohibition. Certainly, there are fundamental disagreements over the role of the executive branch during wartime. Mere expansion of executive authority in the context of national security investigations alone does not in itself create actual abuse. Disagreements over the role of government are different from actual abuse.This is a testament to the act’s limited applicability, procedural safeguards, and extensive oversight mechanisms-as well as the fact that it often provides more protections than are afforded in criminal proceedings. No single provision of the PATRIOT Act has ever been found unconstitutional. These tools come with significant procedural safeguards, oversight, and reporting requirements and are subject to routine and aggressive oversight by the FISA court and Congress. What it does do is ensure that national security investigators have the same tools at their disposal to investigate terrorists that law enforcement agents have to investigate and prosecute drug dealers and rapists. The PATRIOT Act does not provide investigators with unfettered power to spy on innocent Americans. The law provides significant safeguards.Congress of course can expand these rights (and it has repeatedly) however, these protections yield to criminal and national security investigations. This means that anything one exposes voluntarily to the public-or even to a third party-is not considered protected. The Supreme Court has ruled that Americans enjoy a “reasonable” expectation of privacy however, this is not an unlimited expectation of privacy. Expectation of privacy is not unlimited.The Constitution weighs heavily on both sides of the debate over national security and civil liberties-it is important to recognize both factors. The Constitution requires the President and Congress to respect and defend individual civil liberties but also provide for the common defense. It protects civil liberties and provides for the common defense.Here are five key points about the PATRIOT Act: Given the vast amount of misinformation about the act, it is equally important to lay out the constitutional basis for the PATRIOT Act as well as how it works to ensure that its powers are not abused. As the deadline draws nearer, it is important to re-engage on the importance of the PATRIOT Act and explain how the law helps authorities to track down terror leads and dismantle plots before the public is in any danger. Currently, two of the PATRIOT Act’s key provisions are up for reauthorization by Congress.
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