Ethics Assignment #3

The USA Patriot Act was implemented in response to the 9/11 attacks. In an effort to counter terrorism, the act gave law enforcement new power. The act allowed for widespread domestic and foreign surveillance. Existing technology used against organized crime and drug trafficking and new technology have been authorized for use. Federal agents were granted the ability to obtain business records in terror related cases. Warrants can be easily obtained for terror related activities anywhere at any time. Information sharing between agencies have been improved along with harsher punishments against those who commit terror and those who support them. The act seeks to protect Americans by enhancing and increasing the tools and technology in the law enforcement arsenal.

The act was unanimously accepted with hardly any opposition as 9/11 was still fresh in everyone’s mind. The act gave unprecedented power to law enforcement to combat terror, but that same power also defies our Constitution, a combination of moral and constitutional law.

One such power was the ability to monitor religious and political institutions without suspecting criminal activities. This violates the First Amendment which protects the free exercise of speech, press, and religion.

The Patriot Act also allows law enforcement to search and seize papers and effects from Americans without probable cause to assist terror investigation. This conflicts with the Fourth Amendment which protects the right of people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable search and seizures.

The way trials are carried out in regards to terrorism also changed. Under the Patriot Act, the government can jail an American indefinitely without trial. The government can also refuse suspects an attorney and if they were granted an attorney, the government can monitor conversations between them. This violates the Sixth Amendment which states in all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the state and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense.

The widespread surveillance and data collection violates privacy. The new powers granted to law enforcement and the government handling of suspects violate moral and constitutional laws. Looking back now, many of the act’s architects and early adopters stated they never intended or envisioned for the violations caused by the act.