Patriot Act

Zeljak , C (2004 , May /June . The USA and Civil Liberties (Part II . Problems of revel Communism 51 , 69-71In her article , Cathy Zeljak maintains that the has infringed on Americans civil liberties , peculiarly the Fourth Amendment s protections against guilty searches and watchfulness Using the recent record of legal decisions on law enforcement agencies information-gathering practices , the author argues that the strips citizens of the legal protections they secure in the late 1970s . Throughout the piece , she asks , ar we sacrificing essential liberties in the fight against terrorism (Zeljak , 2004 ,. 69 , and her regulate (the overriding thesis of this article ) is yesZeljak argues that the undermines both the Fourth Amendment and the inappropriate Intelligence Surveillance (FISA ) Act , which was pass ed in 1978 to impose guidelines on political sympathies superintendence of private citizens . Before then , regimen surveillance of citizens lacked correct guidelines , and presidency agencies behaved arbitrarily as a result Supposed threats like antiwar activists and civil-rights leaders like Martin Luther top side executive , were frequently monitored and harassed . The FISA Act aimed to curb these abuses and dictated more(prenominal) legal guidelines on federal surveillance , requiring that foreign intelligence operation had to be a primary cause for issuing a warrant to conduct surveillance on an case-by-caseHowever , the has removed legion(predicate) of the FISA Act s protections , now allowing warrants to be issued with foreign intelligence purposes as only a tangential reason , not a primary cause In addition , law enforcement officials whitethorn now seize a considerabler array of records , using the wide definition any tangible thing (Zeljak 2004 ,. 70 ) elucidate of of the narrow lists spec! ified by the FISA Act .

The also allows government agencies to spy on innocent third parties as a means of obtaining information about primary suspects further transmute the Fourth Amendment s protections , and it allows agencies to sh ar information more freely , without permit accused item-by-items known what evidence exists against themIn March 2002 , FISC rejected occult Ashcroft s proposals to allow law enforcement officials broader access to (and use of ) information complete under the . In effect , says Zeljak , this transferred fundamental rights away from individual citizens , greatly increasing the authority of intelligence and investigative agencies (Zeljak , 2004 ,. 70 . FISA warrants can thus be used for criminal investigations without decipherable probable causeZeljak also claims that , despite two court defeats on this issue , the Bush administration hopes to further expand its surveillance and prosecutory powers with II , which would automatically grant federal agents who conduct culpable searches complete immunity and allow the government to deport American citizens found guilty of helping terrorist organizations . Basically , she maintains , such an amplification of the would allow the government near-investigations with few legal guidelines , and would considerably line up citizens protections and civil liberties . Zeljak concludes the article by stating that Americans must wonder whether we are sacrificing essential liberties in the fight against terrorism and ends with a elicit question : . have the...If you want to get a safe essay, order i t on our website: OrderCustomPaper.com

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