Introduction

In the wake of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, widespread fear enveloped the nation.  In a supposed effort to streamline law enforcement’s ability to monitor potential terrorists, proactively neutralize threats, and give US citizens a renewed sense of security, President George W. Bush signed The USA PATRIOT Act into law, on October 26, 2001. Officially named the Uniting (and) Strengthening America (by) Providing Appropriate Tools Required (to) Intercept (and) Obstruct Terrorism Act, the law has sparked heated debate over the violation of people’s 4^th Amendment rights, with multiple suits landing under the jurisdiction of the US Supreme Court.

This blog explores the argument that the US Patriot Act, in implementation, is in fact, not “patriotic.”  Many believe that because of the autonomy granted to law enforcement agencies by the Patriot Act, Americans have been forced to give up an inordinate amount of privacy, and have their constitutionally protected rights violated.  At the center of the debate are millions of Americans who have been unjustly profiled and discriminated against because of their race, ethnicity and religion.  While the US Justice Department argues that the Patriot Act stipulates against racial profiling in the search for potential terrorists, there is much evidence that suggests otherwise.  Thousands of Middle Eastern immigrants and Muslim Americans have been targeted and detained illegally under the jurisdiction of the Patriot Act.

            Another group being singled out by the law are international students, as it expands the foreign student tracking system referred to as the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS). Foreign students and exchange visitors have been monitored since 1996, but with the new provisions, it has become more difficult and costly to obtain visas to study in America. One of the most controversial implications of the Patriot Act as it relates to students, falls in the realm engineering and vocational schools, some of which have considered limiting research abilities for individuals based on the fear that some foreign students could potentially use their knowledge to commit terrorist acts.

Three extremely controversial surveillance methods used to gather information on suspicious individuals such as international students are: the government's expansion of power over wiretapping, law enforcement’s ability to invoke 'sneak and peek' warrants, and authorities’ increased ease of access to citizen's private records. Many argue that these provisions of the Patriot Act violate the Fourth Amendment in multiple ways. The controversial issue related to the expansion of searching records not only violates the Fourth Amendment by failing to provide prior notice, but also the First Amendment’s guarantee of free speech. Suspects who have been searched are forbidden from telling others what has happened.

Yet another highly questionable method of obtaining information about private individuals is through the use of National Security Letters (NSL). Government agencies can issue an NSL to any corporation or organization demanding the release of all records relating to an individual, and prevent them from disclosing this to anyone by including a gag order in the letter. In 2004, the US Supreme Court ruled that the gag order was a violation of the recipient’s First Amendment rights, and questioned the legality of Fourth Amendments rights relating to probable cause for warrants, and unreasonable search and seizure practices.

            A newer area of concern to the government and the private sector is the potential that information housed on computers might be vulnerable to security attacks, otherwise known as cyber terrorism. Another concern was how networks that house information could be compromised. If secure networks were compromised, criminals could gain access to and manipulate vital information.