Patriot Act

Patriot Act Effects of the Patriot ActIn October of 2001, the Patriot Act was passed with little debate, and dramatically expanded the investigative powers of the federal government, at the expense of our Constitutional freedoms. The Patriot Act was passed as a form of retaliation against the September 11 attacks in New York, the Pentagon, and Flight 93 which crashed in Shanksville.What Started it AllAt 7:58 a.m. United Airlines Flight 175 departs from Boston for Los Angeles, carrying 56 passengers, two pilots, and seven flight attendants. The Boeing 767 is hijacked after takeoff and diverted to New York. At 7:59 a.m. American Flight 11 departs Boston for Los Angeles, carrying 81 passengers, two pilots, and nine flight attendants. This Boeing is also hijacked and redirected. At 8:01 a.m. United Airlines Flight 93, a Boeing carrying 38 passengers, two pilots, and five flight attendants leaves Newark, NJ for San Francisco.In February 2005, President George W. Bush urged t...It shouldn't expire for the security of our country."The Truth:Less that 10 percent of the Patriot Act expires; most of the law is permanent and those portions that do sunset will not do so until December 31, 2005.The President:"And that changed, the law changed on- roving wiretaps were available for chasing down drug lords. They weren't available for chasing down terrorists, see?"The Truth:Roving wiretaps were available prior to 9/11 against drug lords and terrorists. Prior to the law, the FBI could get a roving wiretap against both when it had probable cause of crime for a wiretap eligible offense. What the Patriot Act did is make roving wiretaps available in intelligence investigations supervised by the secret intelligence court without the judicial safeguards of the criminal wiretap statute.The President:"... see, I'm...