A Qualitative Evaluation of the PATRIOT Act

The purpose of this thesis is to conduct a qualitative evaluation of the USA PATRIOT Act, an acronym for "Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism." Signed into law by President George W. Bush on October 9, 2001, the PATRIOT Act has provided sweeping new powers for both domestic law enforcement and intelligence agencies designed to facilitate efforts to prevent terrorist attacks on the United States. The Act gives federal officials greater authority to trace and intercept communications, vests the Secretary of the Treasury with new regulatory powers, creates new crimes, new penalties, and new procedural efficiencies for use against domestic and international terrorists.

Using a case study methodology, the thesis examines responses to the PATRIOT Act and compares its provisions to other legislation in the United States and in other countries that directly shape the capacity of government to investigate the activities, attitudes, and behaviors of private citizens. The thesis demonstrates that the PATRIOT Act offers opportunities for government abuse and violation of the human, civic, and political rights of citizens and non-citizens alike. The thesis concludes with a recommendation that the PATRIOT Act should be repealed.

The terrorist attack of September 11, 2001 precipitated a spate of legisl

. . .
l fabric of the American democratic republic. Further, the Act allows government to operate in secrecy, making it difficult for Congress or the people (let alone the judiciary) to determine if government has exceeded its authority (O'Meara, 2000). Consequently, as Schabner (20020 commented, a number of local government units and States have registered their own objections to the Act and its powers. Purpose of the Study The purpose of the study, therefore, is to employ a case study methodology to examine the actual and potential effects of the PATRIOT Act and to compare this Act to other broad and sweeping legislation and laws in the U.S. and abroad, both historically and in the present day. It is anticipated that such a comparison will reveal that this type of legislation and law accords to government and an Executive Branch extraordinary powers that are vulnerable to abuse, leading to violations of the civic and human rights of individuals. A central thrust of the study is to identify those aspects of the PATRIOT Act that are likely to foster such abuses. Research Questions Four key research questions are addressed in this thesis, These questions are: 1. What are the specific provisions of the PATRIOT Act, and
. . .

Some common words found in the essay are:
PATRIOT Act, Leedy Ormrod, Similarly Babbie, Act Collins, Union ACLU, patriot act, Patriot Actà, United Grand, War Terror, Secret Service, Research Methodology, usa patriot, usa patriot act, qualitative research, ormrod 2001, citizens non-citizens, babbie 1986, leedy ormrod, leedy ormrod 2001, human rights, effects patriot act, 2002 usa patriot, effects patriot, o'meara 2002, september 11 2001,
Approximate Word count = 2523
Approximate Pages = 10 (250 words per page)