Michael Li

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Asa 2 Section A01

Week 6 Blog

This week I am writing about the ‘U.S. Patriot Act: A Sketch’ written by Charles Doyle in which he discusses the new laws created with the Patriot Act. This is definitely a very touchy subject and I can see both sides of the spectrum regarding the new crimes, penalties and procedures that try to stop terrorist attacks. I believe the objective of the Patriot Act is a good one, but the procedures can be sketchy to those that believe this will lead to a slippery slope and the government is getting to nosy and will end up playing the role of ‘big brother’ in that they will have surveillance for our every move. I think this act makes it very hard to punish law enforcement if they wrongly tap into someone’s phone because this act protects those who issuing the court order. Overall this definitely gives the government a lot of power.

Question: Has the Patriot Act been successful in combating terrorism and are there cases where they intruded on someone’s privacy wrongfully?