Wiretap And The Patriot Act

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On September 11, 2001 terrorists hijacked four american passenger planes, crashing them and killing almost 3,000 people (“September 11, 2001”). This tragedy concerned the government, so just weeks after the attack, an act was passed to punish and prevent terrorist acts and make law enforcement investigations better. The act is the Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act (USA Patriot Act), which was passed on October 24, 2001(“USA PATRIOT Act Sec. 213” 212-215). The USA Patriot Act caused an impact over the years since the act was passed because there has been discussion as to whether the USA Patriot Act violated the rights written out in the Bill of Rights. Most believe that the USA Patriot Act did take away some of their rights. The greatest impact of September 11, 2001 was the government infringing on American citizen’s constitutional rights through allowing government new access …show more content…
The wiretap which existed before the Act was written gained more importance with the passing of the USA Patriot Act. A wiretap is a type electronic surveillance that monitors phone communication, and can record a conversation or allow someone to listen in (“Wiretapping”). Wiretapping is categorized as a form search and seizure because the people wiretapping are searching the conversations for evidence and seizing the evidence through the recorded conversations. What makes these searches unconstitutional is that the person being wiretapped has no knowledge that they are being recorded and the warrant for wiretapping does not specify what will be seized (Stellin). This form of search and seizure does not only affect the person being tapped though, it also affects anyone that person calls. Through these searches the government can learn very personal things about a person by violating the fourth amendment’s search and seizure

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