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[VA Essentials Student Activity, VUS.15f] Standard VUS.15f The student will demonstrate knowledge of economic, social, cultural, and political developments in recent decades and today by f) assessing the role of the Untied States in a world confronted by terrorism. Essential Skill Evaluate the authenticity, authority, and credibility of sources. (VUS.1b) Assessing the U.S. Response to Terrorism: The Patriot Act Background The USA Patriot Act of 2001 was passed by Congress in response to the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Its 150 provisions were designed protect the United States from terrorism. It was quickly drafted by the Department of Justice and enacted without congressional hearings or debate, and with very little opposition. At the time, President George W. Bush told Congress and the public that the new powers it granted the federal government were essential to national security and that anyone opposing the act was unpatriotic. Opponents of the act—both before and after its passage—believed that it needlessly sacrificed Americans’ civil liberties. As enacted in 2001, the Patriot Act contained controversial provisions that allowed the government to: • Wiretap citizens’ telephones without the need to specify the person or determine that the person is using that telephone ¾ • Opponents argue that this violates the Fourth Amendment prohibition against “unreasonable searches and seizures” that requires authorities to show a judge probable cause. Use secret “national-security letters” to obtain access to private financial records, telephone data, consumer credit reports, and Internet service provider (ISP) records without warrants ¾ In 2007 U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero struck down this provision on the basis that it is unconstitutional because it violates the First Amendment and constitutional provisions for separation of powers, since the FBI can prevent the companies from telling their customers their privacy has been violated. Marrero wrote that the secrecy provisions are “the legislative equivalent of breaking and entering, with an ominous free pass to the hijacking of constitutional values.” He added: “The risk of investing the FBI with unchecked discretion to restrict such speech is that government agents, based on their own self-certification, may limit speech that does not pose a significant threat to national security or other compelling government interest.” The FBI’s usage of these secret letters increased from 9,000 in 2000 to nearly 50,000 in 2005. The government is considering appealing the ruling. • Monitor private citizens’ Internet usage and other communications, plus library and medical records, without a court order showing probable cause • Define domestic terrorism broadly as any state or federal crime in the United States involving an act “dangerous to human life” and that “appears to be intended” to influence government or the public [VA Essentials Student Activity, VUS.15f] ¾ • Presidential authority to declare prisoners “enemy combatants” and deny them access to an attorney or due process of law ¾ • This definition enables the government to label virtually anyone committing a violent crime a terrorist. Prisoners in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, have been held for several years without access to an attorney. When the Supreme Court ruled that they must receive proper trials, the government formed military tribunals rather than allow the accused to receive civilian trials. “Sneak-and-peek” searches of people or premises under wide-ranging circumstances without a warrant; notification of a judge can be delayed indefinitely ¾ Before the Patriot Act, a person had to be promptly advised that a search warrant had been issued. The Patriot Act expands authority to include nonterrorist activity and allows law enforcement agents to enter homes or businesses and remove any material they believe constitutes evidence of criminal offenses. Opponents believe it is a radical departure from Fourth Amendment standards and could result in routine secret entries by any law enforcement agent. In 2005 some of the Patriot Act’s provisions had to be renewed or they would expire. Congress renewed or slightly revised these provisions, leaving civil libertarians still concerned about infringements on personal freedoms. Activity Read the following quotations from the 2001 Senate debate on the Patriot Act and answer the Document-Based Questions that follow. “It enhances our ability to find, track, monitor, and prosecute terrorists operating here in the U.S. without in any way undermining civil liberties. We can never know whether these tools would have prevented the attack on America, but, as the Attorney General has said, it is certain that without these tools we did not stop the vicious acts of last month. I personally believe that if these tools had been in law—and we have been trying to get them there for years—we would have caught those terrorists. If these tools could help us now to track down the perpetrators—if they will help us in our continued pursuit of terrorists—then we should not hesitate to enact these measures into law. God willing, the legislation we pass today will enhance our abilities to protect and prevent the American people from ever again being violated as we were on September 11.” —Senator Orrin Hatch, October 25, 2001 “The Founders who wrote our Constitution and Bill of Rights exercised that vigilance even though they had recently fought and won the Revolutionary War. They did not live in comfortable and easy times of hypothetical enemies. They wrote a Constitution of limited powers and an explicit Bill of Rights to protect liberty in times of war, as well as in times of peace. . . . Even as America addresses the demanding security challenges before us, we must strive mightily also to guard our values and basic rights. We must guard against racism and ethnic discrimination against people of Arab and South Asian origin and those who are Muslim. . . . [VA Essentials Student Activity, VUS.15f] Preserving our freedom is one of the main reasons we are now engaged in this new war on terrorism. We will lose that war without firing a shot if we sacrifice the liberties of the American people. —Senator Russ Feingold, October 25, 2001 Document-Based Questions 1. Identifying Central Issues Why did Judge Marrero strike down the FBI’s use of “national security letters” in 2007? 2. Making Inferences What phrase in Senator Hatch’s statement shows that his support for provisions of the Patriot Act began even before 9/11? 3. Defining What are unalienable rights? 4. Identifying Central Issues Why does Senator Feingold oppose the USA Patriot Act? 5. Assessing Which speaker do you believe is more credible, and why?