Philip McDaniel Social Psychology 03-18-2012

Pros and Cons of the USA Patriot Act. The act, a response to the terrorist attacks of September 11th, dramatically reduced daily freedoms of the American public and restrictions in law enforcement agencies' gathering of intelligence within the United States; expanded the Secretary of the Treasurys authority to regulate financial transactions, particularly those involving foreign individuals and entities; and broadened the discretion of law enforcement and immigration authorities in detaining and deporting immigrants suspected of terrorism-related acts. The act also expanded the definition of terrorism to include domestic terrorism, thus enlarging the number of activities to which the USA PATRIOT Acts expanded law enforcement powers can be applied. (PATRIOT Act, wikipedia.org) The descriptions of this act that I have read from government based sites seem to summarize heavily on the control over money we have attained in the writing of this act, but do not spend much time on the other topics such as the law enforcements ability to gain intelligence within the United States. Also, the gained ease in which the different branches of law enforcement can pass along information amongst themselves. Many Americans were extremely offended by the PATRIOT act and the civil rights that they felt the government was encroaching or out right removing from the public. First let try to make sense of Title I, the boring stuff that seems to be the important part for the government, the Money. The control of money in this act is set so that the appropriate amount of funds go to the portions of the government that need to add to or strengthen areas of their respective offices. The Federal Bureau of Investigations gains assistance so that they could

beef up their offices that covered technical support. The director of the secret service received some so that he could create a task force for detecting, preventing, and investigating electronic crimes including terrorist attacks of US infrastructure. Title II The portion that has the Public up in arms. The Enhanced Surveillance Procedures. This allowed the government to monitor and record and tap phone, oral, and electronic communications for chemical weapons, terrorism offenses and computer fraud and abuse. This portion I can see the public being up in arms over. The Man is now allowed to listen in on your secret phone calls and dirty little emails. Nobody likes it when there is an uninvited guest in all of your conversations. The way I see it is, as long as your not talking about bombing anyone or ordering chemical weapon supplies on the web you should be okay. This surveillance isnt just on American citizens. Its on all communication coming in and out of the U.S. and allows the government to find, investigate and catch those who are plotting and skeeming against the United States. Title III, the International Money Laundering Abatement and Anti-Terrorist Financing Act (of 2001). This Portion of the PATRIOT act allows the Secretary of Treasury to monitor banks and actions within and between other banks and private banking accounts. This is enacted to catch those who are laundering money and or are funding terrorists. The Financial Action Task Force describes laundering money as; The goal of a large number of criminal acts is to generate a profit for the individual or group that carries out the act. Money laundering is the processing of these criminal proceeds to disguise their illegal origin. This process is of critical importance, as it enables the criminal to enjoy these profits without jeopardizing their source. Illegal arms sales, smuggling, and the activities of organized crime, including for example drug

trafficking and prostitution rings, can generate huge amounts of proceeds. Embezzlement, insider trading, bribery and computer fraud schemes can also produce large profits and create the incentive to legitimize the ill-gotten gains through money laundering. When a criminal activity generates substantial profits, the individual or group involved must find a way to control the funds without attracting attention to the underlying activity or the persons involved. Criminals do this by disguising the sources, changing the form, or moving the funds to a place where they are less likely to attract attention. (Money laundering FAQ, fatf-gafi.org) This Title III also gives the banks a way of passing along to the proper authorities information about suspicious activities with bank accounts and or written employment references. Also the Federal Reserve act allows Officers of the law to carry firearms and make warrantless arrests. Another Portion of the PATRIOT act, Title IV covers Protecting the Border and not the border between the U.S and Mexico but the northern border. This gives the Attorney General more funds to improve the immigration and Naturalization service by tripling the number of employed agents and making the process of exiting and entering the country more thorough. Also the act allows the border agents to acquire new and better equipment for their job. In Title V, Removing Obstacles to investigating terrorism. The title says it all. This makes investigation of terrorism much easier for the Government because it reduces the roadblocks and red tape that used to slow or stop the process. This portion also includes the possibility of reward or payment to individuals that can accurately identify terrorist leaders or organizations so that they are eliminated and arrested. Title VI Providing for Victims of Terrorism, Public Safety Officers, and Their Families. This act covers payment and reparation for those stated above that have been involved or affected by a

terrorist act. Title VII, Increased Information Sharing for Critical Infrastructure Protection. This strengthens the prosecution powers of the justice system. Title VIII, Strengthening the Criminal Laws Against Terrorism. This portion removes some of the red tape and makes it easier to charge terrorists and those who are helping terrorists. Title IX, Improved Intelligence This is in place so that officers and employees of the intelligence community should establish and maintain intelligence relationships to acquire information on terrorists and terrorist organizations. Finally title X, covers Miscellaneous covers a few different well miscellaneous details not mentioned in the rest of the Act by the previous Titles. So that is the Just of the act, lengthy I know. Now for a shorter portion, the pros and cons of the act.

Pros: The USA PATRIOT act streamlines communications between the different agencies so that they may work together to investigate terrorist activities. Also in makes it easier to investigate perform surveillance. It increases funding for the victims of terrorist attacks and the families of those that were affected. This also covers rebuilding businesses and infrastructure damaged by terrorism. These powers that the act delegates to the federal government so that investigation of terrorist and their activities along with checks and balances so that the new powers are not abused. The act also allows the federal government to tap lines and record oral conversations, read electronic communications, and . These I can see as necessary to thwarting terrorist activities. As long as you dont talk about buying, creating, selling using chemical weapons, bombs, or plan any attacks then the government wont give two craps about your love affairs your dirty little secrets and lies. Its there to protect the United States of America, not to baby-sit you.

Cons: The act seems to give an awful lot of power to government agencies to monitor the personal habits of not just suspected terrorist but those legal American citizens in country and abroad. Shortly after the passing of the act Guantanamo Bay was opened in 2002. This facility held a then undisclosed amount of people from a plethora of nations who were detained and help without a traditional trial or protections often for unknown reasons. Sounds an awful lot like a new recent bill that was passed. One of the most controversial provisions of the Patriot Act was Title II, which allowed unprecedented monitoring of semi-public records such as library records. Many began to fear that their choice of reading material could lead to an accusation of terrorism and subsequent detention at Guantanamo Bay. (USA Patriot Act: Pros And Cons, Lisa Fritscher, lifescript.com) People felt the implications of President Bushs Youre either with us or against us in the fight against terror, were laced towards the public in the U.S. when he had directed it towards the U.N. to back the military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. Many people thought that the invasion of privacy was against the basic principals of freedom that are protected in the Constitution. I think that the Pros out weigh the Cons in this situation. If you arent doing something that can be perceived as wrong then youll be fine. I think that the biggest issue with the public here is that they think that they might get caught doing something and accused of terrorism. These thoughts are fear motivated not genuine worry about their God given rights. Mark one down for The US PATRIOT Act.

Works Cited Fritscher, Lisa. "USA Patriot Act: Pros And Cons." Women's Health Issues. Lifescript, 05 Nov. 2007lifescript. Web. 18 Mar. 2012. <http://www.lifescript.com/soul/self/growth/usa_patriot_act_pros_ and_cons.aspx>. "Money Laundering FAQ." Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development. Web. 18 Mar. 2012. <http://www.fatfgafi.org/document/29/0,3746,en_32250379_32235720_33659613_ 1_1_1_1,00.html>. "National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 18 Mar. 2012. Web. 18 Mar. 2012. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Defense_Authorization_Ac t_for_Fiscal_Year_2012>.