School Essay: USA PATRIOT Act

Supreme Court of New York

Leslie K. Penny

Research Assignment 2

Chancellor University

USA PATRIOT Act

            The Patriot Act was enacted to protect the inhabitants of the United States of America.  It consists of a number of provisions that improve security albeit at the expense of privacy.  Some would argue that these provisions are no longer necessary while others feel comforted knowing they are in place and agree that modifications should be applied as well as updates to keep up with our advancing technology.  The following essay will explain when the Patriot Act was last amended, when it was signed into law, and what is the status of the provisions that had sunset provisions.  Lastly, the last federal case that discussed the constitutionality of the Patriot Act  will be discussed. 

            According to the American Civil Liberties Union, Congress passed a four year extension for three of the expiring provisions without making any changes (Reform the Patriot Act).  President Barack Obama signed the bill that reauthorized essential elements while the bulk remains unwavering law (Taylor, 2011).  "By reauthorizing the Patriot Act, President Obama guaranteed (barring any judicial action) that the law will live on in its current form until June 1, 2015" (Reform the Patriot Act).  Meaning those provisions will stay as is, not one improvement or reform was made. 

            The provisions in question that were extended "deal with roving wiretaps, the tracking of alleged 'lone wolf' terrorists, and the ability of law enforcement officials to obtain records they deem relevant to an investigation after securing an order from a federal court" (Cohen, 2011).  The closest to a name for the revision this writer could find is "Patriot Act Extension" which is what the extension is referred to in several different articles one being located in the Huffington Post (Abrams, 2011).  An actual name of the amendment cannot be referenced in any of this writers research. 

            In further detail, one of the three sunset provisions extended is Section 206 which supplies for roving wiretap surveillance of targets who try to prevent FISA surveillance (Cohen, 2011).  If not for this extension, investigators would have to ask for a new court order each time they need to change the location, phone or computer that needs to be monitored" (Cohen, 2011).  The next sunset provision that was extended in 2011 is Section 215 which "allows the FBI to apply the FISA court to issue orders granting the government access to any tangible items in foreign intelligence, international terrorism and clandestine intelligence cases" (Cohen, 2011).  The last extended provision is "Section 6001 of the Intelligence Reform and Terrorist Prevention Act of 2004, that closes a loophole that could allow individual terrorists not affiliated with specific organizations to slip through the cracks of FISA surveillance" (Cohen, 2011). 

            The most recent federal case that discussed the constitutionality of the Patriot Act was in 2007 on September 26 in which a federal judge ruled two of the Patriot Act provisions were unconstitutional (CNN, 2007).  The two provisions that were struck down dealt with searches and intelligence gathering.  It was said that they violated the "Fourth Amendment protection against unreasonable searches and seizures with regard to criminal prosecution" (CNN, 2007).              The case came about when Brandon Mayfield, an attorney of Portland , Oregon, filed a lawsuit against the federal government who was wrongly arrested for alleged involvement of the Madrid train bombing in 2004" (CNN, 2007).  He was later apologized to by the federal government and given $2 million to settle the lawsuit where he claimed "that his home and law offices were secretly broken into by the FBI, his clients' files at his office were searched, his business and personal computers were secretly copied, his telephone was wiretapped and his home was bugged" (CNN, 2007).  The ruling of the case was a happy day for Mayfield as they ruled in his favor. 

            To conclude, the revisions were needed to help benefit law enforcement.  Some argue not enough revisions were made while others argue the Patriot Act needs to be done away with completely.  Time will tell, in two years, if the new sunset provisions will be extended once again.  Given the fact there is an expiration date, one would think they were not supposed to stay in effect indefinitely but this writer gets the feeling that no one is any rush to do away with them. 

Works Cited

Abrams, J. (2011, May 27). Patriot Act Extension Signed by Obama. Retrieved May 18, 2013, from Huff Post Politics: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/27/patriot-act-extension-signed-obama-autopen_n_867851.html

CNN. (2007, September 26). Retrieved May 18, 2013, from Federal judge rules 2 Patriot Act provisions unconstitutional: http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/law/09/26/patriot.act/

Cohen, T. (2011, May 27). Obama approves extension of expiring Patriot Act provisions. Retrieved May 18, 2013, from CNN Politics: http://www.cnn.com/2011/POLITICS/05/27/congress.patriot.act/index.html?_s=PM:POLITICS

Reform the Patriot Act. (n.d.). Retrieved 05 18, 2013, from American Civil Liberties Union: http://www.aclu.org/reform-patriot-act

Taylor, D. G. (2011, July 21). No official oversight, but a few voluntary measures. Retrieved May 18, 2013, from Tampa Bay Times Politifact.com: http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/obameter/promise/179/revise-the-patriot-act-to-increase-oversight-on-go/