The history of the USA PATRIOT Act involved many parties who opposed and supported the legislation, which was proposed, enacted and signed into law 45 days after the September 11 terrorist attacks in 2001. The

USA PATRIOT Act The USA PATRIOT Act (commonly known as the Patriot Act) was a landmark Act of Congress, Act of the United States Congress, signed into law by President of the United States, President George W. Bush. The formal name of the statute is the Uniti ...

, though approved by large majorities in the U.S. Senate and House of Representative, was controversial, and parts of the law were invalidated or modified by successful legal challenges over constitutional infringements to

civil liberties Civil liberties are guarantees and freedoms that governments commit not to abridge, either by constitution, legislation, or judicial interpretation, without due process. Though the scope of the term differs between countries, civil liberties may ...

. The Act had several

sunset provision In public policy, a sunset provision or sunset clause is a measure within a statute, regulation or other law that provides that the law shall cease to have effect after a specific date, unless further legislative action is taken to extend the law ...

s, most reauthorized by the ''USA PATRIOT Improvement and Reauthorization Act of 2005'' and the ''USA PATRIOT Act Additional Reauthorizing Amendments Act.'' Both reauthorizations incorporated amendments to the original USA PATRIOT Act, and other federal laws. The catalyst for the USA PATRIOT Act occurred on September 11, 2001 when terrorists attacked and destroyed the

World Trade Center World Trade Centers are sites recognized by the World Trade Centers Association. World Trade Center may refer to: Buildings * List of World Trade Centers * World Trade Center (2001–present), a building complex that includes five skyscrapers, a ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and the western side of

the Pentagon The Pentagon is the headquarters building of the United States Department of Defense. It was constructed on an accelerated schedule during World War II. As a symbol of the U.S. military, the phrase ''The Pentagon'' is often used as a metony ...

near Washington D.C. Within a few weeks of the September 11 attacks, a number of bills attempting to make changes to anti-terrorism laws were introduced into Congress. After the USA PATRIOT Act was passed it remained controversial, and began to be questioned by some members of Congress. A number of sections were struck by the courts. Some provisions were challenged by the ACLU, who filed a

lawsuit - A lawsuit is a proceeding by a party or parties against another in the civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today. The term "lawsuit" is used in reference to a civil actio ...

on April 9, 2004. In April 2005, a Senate Judicial Hearing on the Patriot Act was held. The Act was as controversial as ever, and more than a few groups were campaigning against it. Aside from the EFF, the ACLU, the CDT and the EPIC, the Act had raised the ire of the

American Library Association The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with 49,727 members a ...

(ALA) and the American Booksellers Foundation for Freedom of Expression, who were all extremely concerned about the provisions of the Patriot Act. In June, the Select Committee on Intelligence proposed legislation to the House on July 21 as the ''USA PATRIOT and Terrorism Prevention Reauthorization Act of 2005''. It repealed the sunset date for surveillance provisions of the Patriot Act — in other words, it would have made those sections permanent. A number of amendments were also proposed and passed. The House responded on September 11 that they unanimously disagreed with the Senate amendment, and agreed to a conference. One provision struck down was the so-called "sneak and peek" provisions of the Patriot Act. These were struck down after the FBI wrongfully used the provision to arrest

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

attorney

Brandon Mayfield Brandon Mayfield (born July 15, 1966) is a Muslim-American convert in Washington County, Oregon, who was wrongfully detained in connection with the 2004 Madrid train bombings on the basis of a faulty fingerprint match. On May 6, 2004, the FBI ar ...

on suspicions that he had been involved in the

2004 Madrid train bombings The 2004 Madrid train bombings (also known in Spain as 11M) were a series of coordinated, nearly simultaneous bombings against the Cercanías Madrid, Cercanías commuter train system of Madrid, Spain, on the morning of 11 March 2004—three days ...

Background

The Patriot Act made a number of changes to

U.S. law The law of the United States comprises many levels of Codification (law), codified and uncodified forms of law, of which the most important is the nation's Constitution of the United States, Constitution, which prescribes the foundation of the ...

. Key acts changed were the ''

Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 ("FISA" , ) is a Law of the United States, United States federal law that establishes procedures for the physical and electronic surveillance and the collection of "foreign intelligence informa ...

'' (FISA), the ''

Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986 The Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986 (ECPA) was enacted by the United States Congress to extend restrictions on government wire taps of telephone calls to include transmissions of electronic data by computer ( ''et seq.''), added new ...

'' (ECPA), the ''

Money Laundering Control Act of 1986 The Money Laundering Control Act of 1986 ( Public Law 99-570) is a United States Act of Congress that made money laundering a federal crime. It was passed in 1986. It consists of two sections, and . It for the first time in the United States c ...

'' and ''

Bank Secrecy Act The Bank Secrecy Act of 1970 (BSA), also known as the Currency and Foreign Transactions Reporting Act, is a U.S. law requiring financial institutions in the United States to assist U.S. government agencies in detecting and preventing money laund ...

'' (BSA), as well as the ''

Immigration and Nationality Act The U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act may refer to one of several acts including: * Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 * Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 * Immigration Act of 1990 See also * List of United States immigration legisla ...

''. Title II of the Patriot Act made a number of significant changes to the laws relating to foreign intelligence surveillance, of which the main two Acts that were affected were FISA and the ECPA. FISA came about after the

Watergate scandal The Watergate scandal was a major political scandal in the United States involving the administration of President Richard Nixon from 1972 to 1974 that led to Nixon's resignation. The scandal stemmed from the Nixon administration's continual ...

and subsequent investigations by the

Church Committee The Church Committee (formally the United States Senate Select Committee to Study Governmental Operations with Respect to Intelligence Activities) was a US Senate select committee in 1975 that investigated abuses by the Central Intelligence ...

, which discovered and criticized abuses of domestic spying by the

National Security Agency The National Security Agency (NSA) is a national-level intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense, under the authority of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI). The NSA is responsible for global monitoring, collecti ...

(NSA),

Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, ...

(FBI) and

Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...

(CIA). This led to widespread congressional and public outcry, resulting in Congress passing FISA in 1978. FISA governs the way in which U.S. intelligence agencies may conduct

wiretaps Telephone tapping (also wire tapping or wiretapping in American English) is the monitoring of telephone and Internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol s ...

and the interception of communications in order to gather foreign intelligence. FISA established the

Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court The United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC), also called the FISA Court, is a U.S. federal court established under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (FISA) to oversee requests for surveillance warrants ag ...

(FISC) and a FISC Court of Review which administer foreign intelligence related applications for access to business records, wiretaps, microphone "bugging," physical searches and the use of pen registers and

trap and trace device A trap and trace device captures incoming phone calls to a particular number, similar to a how a pen register captures outgoing phone calls. Description Title 18 of the United States Code defines a trap and trace device as follows: : The term ...

s. The Act does not apply to U.S. citizens, but is limited to dealings with foreign powers and nationals. The ECPA was an amendment to Title III of the '' Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968'', which is sometimes known as the "

Wiretap Statute The Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (, codified at ''et seq.'') was legislation passed by the Congress of the United States and signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson that established the Law Enforcement Assistance Admi ...

." The Wiretap Statute was mainly the result of two

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

cases — ''

Katz v. United States ''Katz v. United States'', 389 U.S. 347 (1967), was a landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in which the Court redefined what constitutes a "search" or "seizure" with regard to the protections of the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution ...

'' and '' Berger v. New York'' — and from criticism by the Church Committee of the actions of

COINTELPRO COINTELPRO ( syllabic abbreviation derived from Counter Intelligence Program; 1956–1971) was a series of covert and illegal projects actively conducted by the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) aimed at surveilling, infiltrati ...

(Counter Intelligence Program). The Supreme Court found in both ''Katz v. U.S.'' and ''Berger v. New York'' that Fourth Amendment search and seizure protections prohibited warrantless wiretaps. COINTELPRO was a program of the FBI that was aimed at investigating and disrupting dissident political organizations within the United States. COINTELPRO's operations during 1956 to 1971 were broadly targeted against organizations that were (at the time) considered to have politically radical elements. These included those whose stated goal was the violent overthrow of the U.S. government (such as the Weathermen), non-violent civil rights groups such as Martin Luther King Jr.'s

Southern Christian Leadership Conference The Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) is an African-American civil rights organization based in Atlanta, Georgia. SCLC is closely associated with its first president, Martin Luther King Jr., who had a large role in the American civi ...

and violent groups like the

Ku Klux Klan The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to the KKK or the Klan, is an American white supremacist, right-wing terrorist, and hate group whose primary targets are African Americans, Jews, Latinos, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and ...

and the American Nazi Party. The Church Committee found that most of the surveillance was illegal. Consequently, Title III of the ''Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act'', though noting that wiretaps and interception of communications are a vital part of the law enforcement, found that wiretapping had been undertaken without legal sanction and were being used to overhear the private conversations of U.S. citizens without their consent. These conversations were then often being used as evidence in court proceedings. Therefore, in order to protect the integrity of the courts while also ensuring the privacy of citizens was not violated, the Act provided a legal framework within which wiretaps and interceptions of communications could be used. The Act requires a court order authorizing the use of such measures against U.S. citizens, with penalties for those who do not get such authorization. The notable exception to these orders is in section , which makes an exception to the restrictions of wiretaps in cases where the President must take measures to protect the U.S. from actual or potential hostile actions from a foreign power. When Title III was established telecommunications was in its infancy and since that time many advances in communications technology have been made. This made it necessary to update the law to take into account these new developments. Thus, the ECPA was passed, and extended Title III to also protect wire, oral and electronic communications while in transit, as well as protecting stored electronic communications. The ECPA also extended the prohibition of the use of pen register and/or trap and trace devices to record dialling information used in the process of transmitting wire or electronic communications without a search warrant. Along with changes to surveillance measures, the Patriot Act also made substantial changes to laws relating to money laundering. The main law changed was the ''

Money Laundering Control Act The Money Laundering Control Act of 1986 ( Public Law 99-570) is a United States Act of Congress that made money laundering a federal crime. It was passed in 1986. It consists of two sections, and . It for the first time in the United States c ...

'' (MLCA), which was itself an amendment to the ''

'' (BSA) The BSA was passed by Congress in 1970 and is designed to fight

drug trafficking A drug is any chemical substance that causes a change in an organism's physiology or psychology when consumed. Drugs are typically distinguished from food and substances that provide nutritional support. Consumption of drugs can be via insuffla ...

money laundering Money laundering is the process of concealing the origin of money, obtained from illicit activities such as drug trafficking, corruption, embezzlement or gambling, by converting it into a legitimate source. It is a crime in many jurisdictions ...

and other financial crimes. It requires financial institutions to keep records of

cash In economics, cash is money in the physical form of currency, such as banknotes and coins. In bookkeeping and financial accounting, cash is current assets comprising currency or currency equivalents that can be accessed immediately or near-imm ...

purchases of

negotiable instrument A negotiable instrument is a document guaranteeing the payment of a specific amount of money, either on demand, or at a set time, whose payer is usually named on the document. More specifically, it is a document contemplated by or consisting of a ...

s, file reports of cash transactions exceeding a daily aggregate amount of $US10,000, and to report suspicious activity that might signify money laundering,

tax evasion Tax evasion is an illegal attempt to defeat the imposition of taxes by individuals, corporations, trusts, and others. Tax evasion often entails the deliberate misrepresentation of the taxpayer's affairs to the tax authorities to reduce the taxp ...

or other criminal activities. The MLCA, passed in 1986, further enhanced the BSA by making it a crime to structure transactions in such a way as to avoid BSA reporting requirements. Immigration law was also tightened under the Patriot Act. The ''

Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 (), also known as the McCarran–Walter Act, codified under Title 8 of the United States Code (), governs immigration to and citizenship in the United States. It came into effect on June 27, 1952. Before ...

'' (INA), also known as the ''McCarran-Walter Act'', was passed by Congress in 1952 and was designed to restrict immigration into the U.S. It allowed the government to deport immigrants or naturalized citizens engaged in subversive activities and also allowed the barring of suspected subversives from entering the country. The Act is codified under

Title 8 Title 8 of the United States Code codifies statutes relating to aliens and nationality in the United States Code. Chapters 1-11 * : General Provisions (repealed or omitted) * : Elective Franchise (transferred) * : Civil Rights (transferred/repe ...

of the

United States Code In the law of the United States, the Code of Laws of the United States of America (variously abbreviated to Code of Laws of the United States, United States Code, U.S. Code, U.S.C., or USC) is the official compilation and codification of the ...

, which primarily governs immigration and citizenship in the United States. Prior to the INA, a variety of statutes governed immigration law but were not organized within one body of text. The Act was later modified by the ''

Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, also known as the Hart–Celler Act and more recently as the 1965 Immigration Act, is a federal law passed by the 89th United States Congress and signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson. The l ...

'', and then by the '' Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986''. Since the Patriot Act, Title 8 has been modified even further by various Acts, including the '' Real ID Act of 2005''.

September 11, 2001 terrorist attack

The catalyst for the USA PATRIOT Act occurred on September 11, 2001 when terrorists attacked and destroyed the

and the western side of

near

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

In response President

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

declared a

War on Terror The war on terror, officially the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT), is an ongoing international Counterterrorism, counterterrorism military campaign initiated by the United States following the September 11 attacks. The main targets of the campa ...

and soon thereafter senators from both sides of politics started working on legislation that would give law enforcement greater powers and to prevent and investigate terrorism in the United States. The Patriot Act was written by Jim Sensenbrenner. According to ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'', Viet Dinh — who was then the Assistant Attorney General of the United States — started work on measures to increase the authority of Federal Agencies, reportedly based upon the understanding that " e charge

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

John Ashcroft] was very, very clear: 'all that is necessary for law enforcement, within the bounds of the Constitution, to discharge the obligation to fight this war against terror.' " Simultaneously,

Jim Dempsey Jim Dempsey (born 5 November 1946) is a Scottish former football player and manager. As a player Dempsey, who was known as a hard man, was most associated with Hamilton Academical, with whom he had two spells, and Raith Rovers, although he als ...

of the

Center for Democracy and Technology Centre for Democracy & Technology (CDT) is a Washington, D.C.-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit organisation that advocates for digital rights and freedom of expression. CDT seeks to promote legislation that enables individuals to use the internet for pur ...

(CDT), expressed concerns that

might be trampled in the rush to push through legislation. According to Dempsey, it was hard enough to get their attention, but " ven ifyou id,some members of the House and Senate were, 'Don't bother me with the details.' " Various interested parties, including the CDT, the

Electronic Frontier Foundation The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is an international non-profit digital rights group based in San Francisco, California. The foundation was formed on 10 July 1990 by John Gilmore, John Perry Barlow and Mitch Kapor to promote Internet ci ...

(EFF), the

American Civil Liberties Union The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1920 "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States". T ...

(ACLU) and the

Electronic Privacy Information Center Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) is an independent nonprofit research center in Washington, D.C. EPIC's mission is to focus public attention on emerging privacy and related human rights issues. EPIC works to protect privacy, freedom o ...

(EPIC), closely scrutinised and critiqued the various proposed bills leading to the final Act, as well as the Act itself once passed.

First bills introduced

Within a few weeks of the September 11 attacks, a number of bills attempting to make changes to anti-terrorism laws were introduced into Congress. The first bill proposed was the ''Combating Terrorism Act of 2001'', which was introduced by Republican senators

Orrin Hatch Orrin Grant Hatch (March 22, 1934 – April 23, 2022) was an American attorney and politician who served as a United States senator from Utah from 1977 to 2019. Hatch's 42-year Senate tenure made him the longest-serving Republican U.S. senator ...

( R- UT) and

Jon Kyl Jon Llewellyn Kyl ( ; born April 25, 1942) is an American politician and lobbyist who served as a United States Senator for Arizona from 1995 to 2013 and again in 2018. A Republican, he held both of Arizona's Senate seats at different times, ser ...

( R- AZ) with Democratic senators

Dianne Feinstein Dianne Goldman Berman Feinstein ( ; born Dianne Emiel Goldman; June 22, 1933) is an American politician who serves as the senior United States senator from California, a seat she has held since 1992. A member of the Democratic Party, she was ...

( D- CA) and Chuck Schumer ( D- NY) on September 13. Among its proposed measures, it ordered a report on the readiness of the National Guard to pre-emptively disrupt domestic acts of terrorism that used

weapons of mass destruction A weapon of mass destruction (WMD) is a chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, or any other weapon that can kill and bring significant harm to numerous individuals or cause great damage to artificial structures (e.g., buildings), natura ...

and called for long-term research and development into terrorist attacks. It also called for a review of the authority of Federal agencies to address terrorist acts, proposed a change that would have allowed the CIA to recruit terrorist informants and proposed to allow law enforcement agencies to disclose foreign intelligence that was discovered through wiretaps and other interception methods. The amendment proposed a Sense of Congress that not enough was being done to impede and investigate terrorist fundraising, and sought to increase measures to prevent the laundering of the proceeds of terrorism. The ''Public Safety and Cyber Security Enhancement Act'' was introduced on September 20 to the House by Republican Rep.

Lamar Smith Lamar Seeligson Smith (born November 19, 1947) is an American politician and lobbyist who served in the United States House of Representatives for for 16 terms, a district including most of the wealthier sections of San Antonio and Austin, as w ...

( R- TX).H.R. 2915
, ''

THOMAS Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the Ap ...

'' Its main focus was on the unauthorized access of protected computers and proposed making modifications to the laws based on the

Cable TV Privacy Act The Cable Communications Policy Act of 1984 (codified at ) was an act of Congress passed on October 30, 1984 to promote competition and deregulate the cable television industry. The act established a national policy for the regulation of cable te ...

surrounding

cable TV Cable television is a system of delivering television programming to consumers via radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted through coaxial cables, or in more recent systems, light pulses through fibre-optic cables. This contrasts with broadc ...

subscriber privacy, as well as various changes to pen register and trap and trace laws. The bill would have made an exception for foreign intelligence gathering in the laws that require a court order necessary for pen register and trap and trace surveillance. It would also have removed restrictions on the prohibition of gaining access to cable television subscriber records and only prohibited the disclosure of viewing patterns of cable television subscribers.Public Safety and Cyber Security Enhancement Act
Source: ''

''. Accessed 26th June, 2007. The ''Intelligence to Prevent Terrorism Act'' was introduced to the Senate on September 28 by Senators

Bob Graham Daniel Robert "Bob" Graham (born November 9, 1936) is an American lawyer, author, and politician who served as the 38th governor of Florida from 1979 to 1987 and a United States senator from Florida from 1987 to 2005. He is a member of the Dem ...

( D- FL) and Jay Rockefeller ( D- WV).S. 1448
, ''

'' The bill proposed a number of changes relating to the

Director of Central Intelligence The director of central intelligence (DCI) was the head of the American Central Intelligence Agency from 1946 to 2005, acting as the principal intelligence advisor to the president of the United States and the United States National Security C ...

(DCI). The most significant change proposed was to require the Attorney General or head of any other Federal department or agency to disclose to the DCI any foreign intelligence acquired in the course of a criminal investigation. However, it would also have required that the DCI and Secretary of the Treasury jointly report to Congress as to whether it would be a good idea to reconfigure the

Office of Foreign Assets Control The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is a financial intelligence and enforcement agency of the U.S. Treasury Department. It administers and enforces economic and trade sanctions in support of U.S. national security and foreign policy ob ...

and its Foreign Terrorist Asset Tracking Center to provide for the analysis and dissemination of foreign intelligence relating to the financial capabilities and resources of international terrorist organizations. It would also have required the DCI to establish and maintain a National Virtual Translation CenterMemorably referred to as "Napster for spies" by Steven Cash durin
a Senate Hearing
before the Select Committee on Intelligence. for timely and accurate translations of foreign intelligence for elements of the intelligence community. Another area it covered was a proposal to make the Attorney General provide a program of training to Government officials regarding the identification and use of foreign intelligence.''

''
"Intelligence to Prevent Terrorism Act of 2001"
.''

Congressional Research Service The Congressional Research Service (CRS) is a public policy research institute of the United States Congress. Operating within the Library of Congress, it works primarily and directly for members of Congress and their committees and staff on a c ...

''
CRS summary of ''Intelligence to Prevent Terrorism Act of 2001''

Anti-Terrorism Act of 2001 and Financial Anti-Terrorism Act

Meanwhile, Republican Senator Orrin Hatch, along with Democratic senators Patrick Leahy ( D- VT) and Arlen Specter ( R- PA), had been working with John Ashcroft on a draft bill, called the ''Anti-Terrorism Act of 2001''. On September 19, 2001, this first draft is introduced to Congress. Many of the most controversial aspects of the USA PATRIOT Act were first part of this draft and it was later to be introduced as the PATRIOT Act/USA Act — which in turn became the basis for the final USA PATRIOT Act. Among other things, the administration proposal discussed extending

roving wiretap In United States law, a roving wiretap is a special kind of wiretap permit that follows the surveillance target. For instance, if a target attempts to defeat a regular wiretap by throwing away a phone and acquiring a new one, another surveillance ...

s from the sole domain of domestic agencies into the domain of foreign intelligence surveillance and proposed the expansion of the use of wiretaps from phonelines to Internet technology. It would have made it possible for more law enforcement agencies to disseminate wiretap information and would have expanded the scope of surveillance subpoenas to allow broader access to personal records — including "books, records, papers, documents, and other items."''

''
"Analysis of Provisions of the Proposed Anti-Terrorism Act of 2001"PDF
''Anti-Terrorism Act of 2001''
Source: ''

''. Accessed 2nd July, 2007. Both the bill introduced by Senator Graham and the proposed Anti-Terrorism Act draft were referred to the Select Committee on Intelligence. According to ''

'', EPIC's Jim Dempsey and a number of other representatives from other civil liberties groups were invited to discussions about the draft, but Dempsey's recollection was that "They embers of the Department of Justicewere livid, nd theyexplicitly said, 'We don't think outsiders should be here, and we won't talk unless they leave the room.'" Although a deal was brokered, this began causing tensions between parties negotiating the bill and previously amicable discussions started breaking down between Leahy and Ashcroft. Also introduced into the House was the ''Financial Anti-Terrorism Act''. This bill, which was later incorporated into the final USA PATRIOT Act, was introduced in the middle of October by Republican Representative

Mike Oxley Michael Garver Oxley (February 11, 1944 – January 1, 2016) was an American Republican politician and attorney who served as a U.S. Representative from the 4th congressional district of Ohio. Early life and career Oxley was born in Findl ...

( R- OH), and was passed and then referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.H.R. 3004
, ''

'' It proposed strengthening financial law enforcement through a number of measures. These included establishing

FinCEN The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) is a bureau of the United States Department of the Treasury that collects and analyzes information about financial transactions in order to combat domestic and international money laundering, terr ...

as a bureau of the Department of the Treasury, enhancing forfeiture laws and preventing the structuring of transactions to bypass anti-money laundering and reporting legislation.''

''
CRS Summary of H.R. 3004
: "Title I: Strengthening Law Enforcement". October 17, 2001. It also proposed establishing measures to increase the cooperation between the public and private sectors when it came to reporting and preventing financial crimes such as money laundering,''

''
CRS Summary of H.R. 3004
: "Title II: Public-Private Cooperation". October 17, 2001. along with further measures to combat international money laundering.''

''
CRS Summary of H.R. 3004
: "Title III: Combatting International Money Laundering". October 17, 2001.

Birth of the USA PATRIOT Act

The first version of the Patriot Act was introduced into the House on October 2, 2001, as the ''Provide Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism (PATRIOT) Act of 2001'', and was later passed by the House as the ''Uniting and Strengthening America (USA) Act'' (H.R. 2975) on October 12.H.R. 2975
, ''

'' This was based on the afore-mentioned ''Anti-Terrorism Act'', but had been changed after negotiations and work between Attorney General Ashcroft, Senators Leahy, Paul Sarbanes ( D- MD), Bob Graham, Trent Lott ( R- MS) and Orrin Hatch. It was introduced into the Senate as the ''USA Act of 2001'' (S. 1510) by

Tom Daschle Thomas Andrew Daschle ( ; born December 9, 1947) is an American politician and lobbyist who served as a United States senator from South Dakota from 1987 to 2005. A member of the Democratic Party, he became U.S. Senate Minority Leader in 1995 an ...

( D- SD)S. 1510
, ''

''. where Senator

Russ Feingold Russell Dana Feingold ( ; born March 2, 1953) is an American lawyer and politician who served as a United States Senator from Wisconsin from 1993 to 2011. A member of the Democratic Party, he was its nominee in the 2016 election for the same U.S ...

( D- WI) proposed a number of amendments, none of which were passed. Feingold amended the provision relating to interception of computer trespasser communications, limited the roving wiretap authority under FISA and modified the provisions relating to access to business records under FISA. The ''USA Act'' was later vitiated and indefinitely postponed, because the Senate and House bills could not be reconciled in time. President George W

The ''USA PATRIOT Act'', H.R. 3162, was introduced into the House on October 23. It incorporated H.R. 2975 and S. 1510 and many of the provisions of H.R. 3004 (the ''Financial Anti-Terrorism Act'').H.R. 3162
, ''

'' Although there were some objections and concerns raised about the legislation, a motion was made to suspend the rules, and the bill was passed.Passed 357 - 66
Roll number 398
(October 23, 2001) Patrick Leahy in particular commented that "our ability to make rapid progress n drafting the billwas impeded because the negotiations with the Administration did not progress in a straight line. On several key issues that are of particular concern to me, we had reached an agreement with the Administration on Sunday, September 30. Unfortunately, over the next two days, the Administration announced that it was reneging on the deal. I appreciate the complex task of considering the concerns and missions of multiple Federal agencies, and that sometimes agreements must be modified as their implications are scrutinized by affected agencies. When agreements made by the Administration must be withdrawn and negotiations on resolved issues reopened, those in the Administration who blame the Congress for delay with what the ''New York Times'' described as "scurrilous remarks," do not help the process move forward." The Act was opposed by only one vote, the sole dissenting Senator being Russ FeingoldRecord vote number 313
for H.R. 3192. Passed 98 - 1. who found a number of measures objectionable or troubling. Feingold's concerns included the way that the bill was passed, aspects of the wiretapping provisions, the changes to search and seizure laws, the expanded powers under FISA that allowed law enforcement to gain access to business records and the changes to detention and deportation laws for immigrants. The Act had a number of "sunsets" included in it after insistence by Republican Representative

Richard Armey Richard Keith Armey (; born July 7, 1940) is an American economist and politician. He was a U.S. Representative from Texas's (1985–2003) and House Majority Leader (1995–2003). He was one of the engineers of the " Republican Revolution" of t ...

( R- TX) However, the Act took into account any ongoing foreign intelligence investigations and allowed them to continue once the sections had expired.

Opposition grows

After the USA PATRIOT Act was passed it remained controversial, and began to be questioned by some members of Congress. On June 13, 2002, the

House Committee on the Judiciary The U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary, also called the House Judiciary Committee, is a standing committee of the United States House of Representatives. It is charged with overseeing the administration of justice within the federal courts, a ...

wrote a letter to Attorney General Ashcroft asking 50 questions about the use and effectiveness of the Act. In the letter they stated that " e Committee is interested in hearing from you ohn Ashcroftand FBI Director Robert F. Mueller concerning the Department of Justice's use of he Act's new investigative tools to combat new terrorist threats against the United Statesand their effectiveness. In light of the broad scope of the Act, we are initially seeking written responses to the following questions, and we plan to schedule a hearing in the near future to allow further public discussion of these and other issues relating to the Department of Justice's activity in investigating terrorists or potential terrorist attacks." Frank James Sensenbrenner &

John Conyers Jr. John James Conyers Jr. (May 16, 1929October 27, 2019) was an American politician of the Democratic Party who served as a U.S. representative from Michigan from 1965 to 2017. The districts he represented always included part of western Detroit. ...

(June 13, 2002)
Letter to Attorney General John Ashcroft
Only 28 questions were answered publicly, with 7 answered under separate cover to the Committee.Daniel J. Bryant (July 26, 2002)
Response to 50 questions
. ''

United States Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and administration of justice in the United State ...

'' Meanwhile, organisations such as the ACLU, the EFF and EPIC had not stopped opposing the most controversial parts of the Act. Three months after the official response to the Select Committee on the Judiciary, EPIC filed a

Freedom of Information Freedom of information is freedom of a person or people to publish and consume information. Access to information is the ability for an individual to seek, receive and impart information effectively. This sometimes includes "scientific, indigeno ...

(FOI) request seeking the information that was not released by the U.S. Department of Justice.''

'' (October 25, 2002
FOI complaint
While the Department of Justice released a number of records in response to the request, they didn't release all the material, asserting that certain responsive records were exempt from disclosure. In order to gain access to these records, the ACLU and EPIC brought a civil action against the Department of Justice,ACLU and EPIC v. Department of Justice, Civil Action No. 02-2077
March 21, 2003. and on November 26

U.S. District Judge The United States district courts are the trial courts of the U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each federal judicial district, which each cover one U.S. state or, in some cases, a portion of a state. Each district cou ...

Ellen Segal Huvelle Ellen Judith Huvelle ( ''née'' Segal; born June 3, 1948) is an inactive Senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. She has overseen several significant cases. In a case decided in May 20 ...

ordered the Department of Justice to complete its processing of the FOI request by January 15, 2003.''ACLU and EPIC v. Department of Justice, Civil Action No. 03-2522''. (D.D.C. ESH)''
PATRIOT Act FOIA
EPIC website, retrieved 29th August, 2007. Meanwhile, on July 31, the ''Protecting the Rights of Individuals Act'' was introduced into the Senate by Senators

Lisa Murkowski Lisa Ann Murkowski ( ; born May 22, 1957) is an American attorney and politician serving as the senior United States senator for Alaska, having held that seat since 2002. Murkowski is the second-most senior Republican woman in the Senate, after S ...

( R- AK) and

Ron Wyden Ronald Lee Wyden (; born May 3, 1949) is an American politician and retired educator serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from Oregon, a seat he has held since 1996 United Stat ...

( D- OR).''

''
S.1552
. It was the first of many bills introduced to attempt to change the Patriot Act. Among the changes were ones to FISA provisions, including limits to "sneak and peek" and roving wiretap provisions, the narrowing of the Patriot Act's definition of terrorism and the reinstatement of judicial review when agencies wished to access library and business records. It also would have restored the primary purpose criteria of FISA surveillance to be for foreign intelligence purposes, which had been changed in the Patriot Act to be a "significant purpose." The bill proposed a moratorium on data mining by agencies except under specific instances allowed under law and also would have prevented government access to education records without specific facts showing why those records were required in investigations.''

''
Analysis of the Protecting the Rights of Individuals Act
, retrieved September 4, 2007.''

'' (July 31, 2003)
CRS Summary of S.1552
. Further legislation attempting to curtail the Patriot Act was introduced into the House on September 24 by

Dennis Kucinich Dennis John Kucinich (; born October 8, 1946) is an American politician. A U.S. Representative from Ohio from 1997 to 2013, he was also a candidate for the Democratic nomination for president of the United States in 2004 and 2008. He ran for ...

( D- OH) and

Ron Paul Ronald Ernest Paul (born August 20, 1935) is an American author, activist, physician and retired politician who served as the U.S. representative for Texas's 22nd congressional district from 1976 to 1977 and again from 1979 to 1985, as well ...

( R- TX). That bill was the '' Benjamin Franklin True Patriot Act'',H.R. 3171
, ''

'' which is an allusion to

Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin ( April 17, 1790) was an American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, and political philosopher. Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the leading inte ...

's famous quote that "those who would give up Essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety." Among other things, it proposed a 90-day review period after which 11 sections of the Patriot Act would cease to have effect. It would have reverted the sections on sneak and peek searches, expansion of pen register and trap and trace authorities as well the authority for the FBI to gain access to records and other tangible items under FISA. Also reverted would have been the sections that changed the primary purpose test for foreign intelligence surveillance under FISA to "significant purpose", the

mandatory detention Immigration detention is the policy of holding individuals suspected of visa violations, illegal entry or unauthorized arrival, as well as those subject to deportation and removal until a decision is made by immigration authorities to grant a vi ...

of aliens, the use of National Security Letters and the broadened definition of "domestic terrorism." The bill was referred to subcommittees for consideration, where no further action was taken before the end of the

108th Congress The 108th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives from January 3, 2003 to January 3, 2005, during ...

. The bill never went further and it was never reintroduced. The bill was publicly supported by the ACLU and the EFF. Further controversy soon came to a head when, in late January 2003, the founder of the Center for Public Integrity, Charles Lewis, published a leaked draft copy of an Administration proposal titled the ''Domestic Security Enhancement Act of 2003''.''

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...

'' (February 7th, 2007)
Now with Bill Moyers
transcript. The document was quickly dubbed "PATRIOT II" or "Son of PATRIOT" by the media and organisations such as the EFF.EFF Analysis of "Patriot II," Provisions of the Domestic Security Enhancement Act of 2003
, ''

''. Retrieved August 30, 2007. The draft, which was circulated to 10 divisions of the Department of Justice,Control Sheet of the "Domestic Security Enhancement Act of 2003"
retrieved August 30, 2007. proposed to make further modifications to extend the USA PATRIOT Act and would have made more changes to FISA, including extending the definition of a foreign power in relation to FISA and allowed the use of wiretaps 15 days after Congress authorized the use of military force (currently, the law allows this only after a declaration of war). Further, it would have allowed Federal agencies to acquire foreign government's spoken communications and would have expanded the use of pen registers under FISA to apply to U.S. citizens. It proposed that the FISA Court of Review be allowed to employ a lawyer with security clearance to defend the judgement of the FISC, and would have expanded the use of law enforcement investigative tools under FISA. Further gags were proposed in the draft and, had it been introduced into Congress, it would have prevented the disclosure of terrorism investigation detainee information, "Worst Case Scenario" information and information relating to Capitol buildings. The draft contained measures to further restrict what participants in

Grand Jury A grand jury is a jury—a group of citizens—empowered by law to conduct legal proceedings, investigate potential criminal conduct, and determine whether criminal charges should be brought. A grand jury may subpoena physical evidence or a pe ...

terrorism hearings could disclose, while other proposed measures would have enhanced investigations into terrorism, including the establishment of a terrorism identification database. Changes were proposed to define terrorism as a crime and the legal framework with which to prosecute such crimes. Further modifications would have also changed immigration and border-security laws.Patriot II (draft)
, ''

''. Retrieved August 30th, 2007. Although the Department of Justice released a statement that it was only a draft,''

'' (February 7th, 2007)
Statement of Barbara Comstock, Director of Public Affairs
/ref> it caused an enormous amount of controversy, with many criticising it for impinging on privacy and civil liberties. In particular, Patrick Leahy complained that "If there is going to be a sequel to the USA PATRIOT Act, the process of writing it should be open and accountable. It should not be shrouded in secrecy, steeped in unilateralism or tinged with partisanship. The early signals from the Administration about its intentions for this bill are ominous, and I hope Justice Department officials will change the way they are handling this." Patrick Leahy (February 10, 2003)
Comments of Senator Patrick Leahy Ranking Democratic Member, Senate Judiciary Committee, on the Justice Department’s Secrecy in Drafting a Sequel to the USA PATRIOT Act
. Office of Patrick Leahy, Senator for Vermont (2003). By now public opinion of the Act appeared to be waning, with a Gallup poll response to the question "Based on what you have read or heard, do you think the Patriot Act goes too far, is about right, or does not go far enough in restricting people's civil liberties in order to fight terrorism?" showing that between 2003 and 2004 nearly a quarter of all Americans felt that the Act went too far, while most felt that it was either just right or did not go far enough. In response, the Department of Justice established a website, www.lifeandliberty.gov, that defended the Act from such organizations as the ACLU (which itself had created a website that campaigned against the Patriot Act called Safe and Free). At the same time, Attorney General Ashcroft toured 16 cities giving speeches to invite only crowds defending the Patriot Act and touting its importance. In the speeches — which among other things made allusions to Bunker Hill, Antietam, the Argonne,

Iwo Jima Iwo Jima (, also ), known in Japan as , is one of the Japanese Volcano Islands and lies south of the Bonin Islands. Together with other islands, they form the Ogasawara Archipelago. The highest point of Iwo Jima is Mount Suribachi at high. ...

Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...

and

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...

— he defended the Patriot Act's provisions that eliminated the "wall" preventing foreign intelligence agencies from sharing information with domestic law enforcement agencies, roving wiretaps and the expanded capabilities of the U.S.

Joint Terrorism Task Force In the United States, the Joint Terrorism Task Forces (JTTF) are locally-based multi-agency partnerships between various federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies tasked with investigating terrorism and terrorism-related crimes, led by the ...

. He also claimed that they had "neutralized alleged terrorist cells in Buffalo,

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

and

ndbrought 255 criminal charges. One hundred thirty two individuals have been convicted or pled guilty. All told, more than 3,000 suspected terrorists have been arrested in many countries. Many more have met a different fate." John Ashcroft (August 19th, 2003)
Prepared Remarks of Attorney General John Ashcroft Preserving Life and Liberty
speech to American Enterprise Institute. Among those arrested was

Sami Amin Al-Arian Sami Amin Al-Arian ( ar, سامي أمين العريان; born January 14, 1958) is a Kuwaiti-born Islamist and political activist of unverified Palestinian origin who was a computer engineering professor at University of South Florida. Duri ...

and seven others who were indicted on 50 counts, including using an Islamic

think tank A think tank, or policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governmenta ...

to funnel funds to the group Palestinian Islamic Jihad, which is classed as a terrorist organization by the United States government.U.S. v. Sami Amin Al-Arian et al.
''

Findlaw FindLaw is a business of Thomson Reuters that provides online legal information and online marketing services for law firms. FindLaw was created by Stacy Stern, Martin Roscheisen, and Tim Stanley in 1995, and was acquired by Thomson West in 2001. ...

'' Ashcroft cited the arrests to show how the Patriot Act had broken down information sharing barriers between agencies. The speeches themselves were met with support, but in many states Ashcroft attracted protests and a number of critical editorials were written — in one particularly stinging column, ''

The Philadelphia Inquirer ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The newspaper's circulation is the largest in both the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the Delaware Valley metropolitan region of Southeastern Pennsy ...

'' wrote that there was "an air of desperation about it."Cited in Meanwhile, controversy over the Patriot Act was leading to resistance from many State and local governments.

Arcata Arcata (; Wiyot: ''Goudi’ni''; Yurok: ''Oket'oh'') is a city adjacent to the Arcata Bay (northern) portion of Humboldt Bay in Humboldt County, California, United States. At the 2020 census, Arcata's population was 18,857. Arcata was first ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

passed an ordinance in February 2003 that barred city employees (including police and librarians) from assisting or cooperating with any federal investigations under the Act that would violate civil liberties ( Nullification). Eventually, eight states (

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyom ...

Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and north ...

Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbi ...

and

Vermont Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...

) and 396 cities and counties (including

;

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

;

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

;

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

;

Eugene, Oregon Eugene ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is located at the southern end of the Willamette Valley, near the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette rivers, about east of the Oregon Coast. As of the 2020 United States Census, Eu ...

;

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

; and

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston, ...

) passed resolutions condemning the Act for attacking civil liberties. The

Bill of Rights Defense Committee Bill(s) may refer to: Common meanings * Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States) * Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature * Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer * Bill, a bird or animal's beak Plac ...

helped coordinate many local efforts. These ordinances are largely symbolic, as under the

United States Constitution The Constitution of the United States is the Supremacy Clause, supreme law of the United States, United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, in 1789. Originally comprising seven ar ...

's supremacy clause, federal law overrides state and local laws.

Security and Freedom Ensured Act

The '' Security and Freedom Ensured Act'' (SAFE)S.1709
, ''

'' was introduced some time later by Republican Senator

Larry Craig Lawrence Edwin Craig (born July 20, 1945) is an American retired politician from the state of Idaho. A Republican Party (United States), Republican, he served 18 years in the United States Senate (1991–2009), preceded by 10 years in the U.S. ...

( R- ID). It was introduced on October 2, 2003, and was co-sponsored by Senators

John E. Sununu John Edward Sununu (born September 10, 1964) is an American politician who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives and United States Senator from New Hampshire. Sununu was the youngest member of the Senate for his entire ...

( R- NH) and Richard Durbin ( D- IL) and would have limited the scope of roving wiretaps,''

'', Security and Freedom Ensured Act of 2003
S.1709
Section 2 changed the "sneak and peek" delayed notification period from "within a reasonable period" to not later than 7 days after execution of the warrant,''

'', Security and Freedom Ensured Act of 2003
S.1709
Section 3 restored the requirements for seizure of business records that there are specific and articulate facts that business records are those of a foreign power or agents of a foreign power''

'', Security and Freedom Ensured Act of 2003
S.1709
Section 4 and prevent the use of National Security Letters to gain access to library records.''

'', Security and Freedom Ensured Act of 2003
S.1709
Section 5 It also would have extended the sunset provisions of the Patriot Act to include section 213 (Authority for delaying notice of the execution of a warrant), section 216 (Modification of authorities relating to use of pen registers and trap and trace devices), section 219 (Single-jurisdiction search warrants for terrorism) and section 505 (Miscellaneous national security authorities).''

'', Security and Freedom Ensured Act of 2003
S.1709
Section 6 The EFF urged the swift passage of the bill,EFF: Analysis of the SAFE Act
, ''

'' website. Retrieved September 1st, 2007 while Senator Russell Feingold urged the bill be passed as " ese are reasonable and moderate changes to the law. They do not gut the provision. They do not make it worthless. They do recognize the growing and legitimate concern from across the political spectrum that this provision was passed in haste and presents the potential for abuse. They also send a message that fourth amendment rights have meaning and potential violations of those rights should be minimized if at all possible." In Congressional debate, Rick Durbin stated that "many in Congress did not want to deny law enforcement some of the reasonable reforms contained in the PATRIOT Act that they needed to combat terrorism. So, we reluctantly decided to support the administration's version of the bill, but not until we secured a commitment that they would be responsive to Congressional oversight and consult extensively with us before seeking any further changes in the law." In response to the bill, Attorney General Ashcroft wrote a four-page letter to Congress urging them not to make wholesale changes to the Patriot Act, and warned that President Bush would

veto A veto is a legal power to unilaterally stop an official action. In the most typical case, a president or monarch vetoes a bill to stop it from becoming law. In many countries, veto powers are established in the country's constitution. Veto ...

the bill if it appeared on his desk. Senator Durbin countered that this was "an unfortunate overreaction to a reasoned and measured effort to mend the Patriot Act ndI believe it is possible to combat terrorism and preserve our individual freedoms at the same time." SAFE was referred to the Senate Committee on the Judiciary on April 7, 2004, and a Conference report prepared. However, the co-sponsors of the Act were extremely unhappy with the report, stating that " e conference report, in its current form, is unacceptable. There is still time for the conference committee to step back and agree to the Senate's bipartisan approach. If the conference committee doesn't do that, we will fight to stop this bill from becoming law". Thus, this bill never proceeded any further.

Judicial and legislative challenges

A number of sections were struck by the courts. Section 805 of the Patriot Act allowed the U.S. government to prohibit citizens from providing material support for specially designated terrorist organisations, including "expert advise and assistance." Two organisations so designated were the Kurdistan Workers Party (in

Kurdish Kurdish may refer to: *Kurds or Kurdish people *Kurdish languages *Kurdish alphabets *Kurdistan, the land of the Kurdish people which includes: **Southern Kurdistan **Eastern Kurdistan **Northern Kurdistan **Western Kurdistan See also * Kurd (dis ...

it is the ''Partiya Karkerên Kurdistan'', or PDK) and the

Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE; ta, தமிழீழ விடுதலைப் புலிகள், translit=Tamiḻīḻa viṭutalaip pulikaḷ, si, දෙමළ ඊළාම් විමුක්ති කොටි, t ...

(also known as either the Tamil Tigers, the Ellalan Force or the LTTE). The

Humanitarian Law Project The Humanitarian Law Project (founded 1985) is a U.S.-based non-profit organization, working to protect human rights and promote "the peaceful resolution of conflict by using established international human rights laws and humanitarian law." The o ...

supported both groups, and brought a civil action against the government complaining that the law was unconstitutional. The Federal court agreed and in a decision brought in December 2004 struck down section 805(a)(2)(B) because, in the courts view, it violated the

First First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...

and Fifth Amendments to the United States Constitution as it was so vague that it "could be construed to include unequivocally pure speech and advocacy protected by the First Amendment." In the decision, the judge determined that this vagueness would cause a person of average intelligence to guess whether they were breaking the law, and thus potentially cause a person to be charged for an offence that they had no way of knowing was illegal. The vagueness may also have the effect of allowing arbitrary and discriminatory enforcement of the law, as well as possible chilling effects on First Amendment rights.
Humanitarian Law Project et al. v. John Ashcroft
', ''Findlaw'' Soon after the decision, the Department of Justice released a statement that "The provision at issue in today's decision was a modest amendment to a pre-existing antiterrorism law that was designed to deal with real threats caused by support of terrorist groups. By targeting those who provide material support by providing 'expert advice or assistance' the law made clear that Americans are threatened as much by the person who teaches a terrorist to build a bomb as by the one who pushes the button."Citing

Mark Corallo Mark Corallo (born February 8, 1966) is an American political communications and public relations professional, who is the co-founder and co-principal of Corallo Comstock.Paul Singer and Tory Newmyer, ''K Street Files'', Roll Call, April 11, 2007 ...

, spokesman for the

. Cited in: Aclu-v-ashcroft-redacted

Title V of the Patriot Act amended the ECPA's National Security Letter (NSL) provisions (). These were challenged by the ACLU, who filed a

on April 9, 2004, on behalf of an unknown party against the U.S. government.''Doe v. Ashcroft'', 334 F.Supp.2d 471 (S.D.N.Y. 2004
source
The specifics of the original case brought by the ACLU is not known, except that the unknown party is an

internet service provider An Internet service provider (ISP) is an organization that provides services for accessing, using, or participating in the Internet. ISPs can be organized in various forms, such as commercial, community-owned, non-profit, or otherwise private ...

, and the case involves either wiretaps or secretly subpoenaed customer records from telephone and internet companies — ostensibly in the course of investigating possible terrorist activity. Due to the NSL provisions, the government would not let the ACLU disclose they had even filed a case for nearly a month, after which they were permitted to release a heavily redacted version of the complaint. The ACLU argued that the NSL violated the First and Fourth Amendments of the

because section 2709 failed to spell out any legal process whereby a telephone or internet company could try to oppose an NSL subpoena in court. They also argued that section 2709 prohibited the recipient of an NSL subpoena from disclosing that they had received such a request from the FBI, and therefore outweighed the FBI's need for secrecy in counter-terrorism investigations. The Court subsequently found the NSL provisions of the ECPA unconstitutional. It reasoned that it could not find in the provision an implied right for the person receiving the subpoena to challenge it in court as is constitutionally required. The court found in favour of the ACLU, and declared the provision unconstitutional. The finding of unconstitutionality essentially dismisses any claimed presumptive legal need for absolute secrecy in regard to terrorism cases. However, the USA Patriot Act is affected only if the limits on NSLs in terrorism cases also apply to non-terrorism cases such as those authorized by the Act and even though the NSL was dropped, the John Doe remained under a gag order. Legislative action was also undertaken by

Bernie Sanders Bernard Sanders (born September8, 1941) is an American politician who has served as the junior United States senator from Vermont since 2007. He was the U.S. representative for the state's at-large congressional district from 1991 to 2007 ...

( I- VT), Jerrold Nadler ( D- NY), John Conyers Jr., Clement Leroy Otter ( R- ID) and

. They proposed an amendment to the ''Commerce, Justice, State Appropriations Bill of 2005'' which would cut off funding to the Department of Justice for searches conducted under section 215.H.R. 4754
, ''

''. See als
H.AMDT.652
''

''. The amendment initially failed to pass the House with a tie vote, 210–210.Roll number 339
July 8th, 2004 Although the original vote came down in favor of the amendment, the vote was held open and several House members were persuaded to change their votes. However, on June 15, 2005, they made a second attempt to limit section 215 searches in an amendment to another House appropriations billH.R. 2862
, ''

''; see als
H.AMDT 280
/ref> and this time it passed with a vote of 238–187 in favor of the Sanders amendment.Roll number 258
June 15th, 2005 Not all proposed legislation was against the Patriot Act, however. In July 2004, Senator Jon Kyl introduced the ''Tools to Fight Terrorism Act'' into the Senate. In a statement given on September 13 to the Senate Committee on the Judiciary, Senator Kyl stated his concern that "Congress has enacted no major antiterror legislation since the passage of the USA Patriot Act almost three years ago."A Review of the Tools to Fight Terrorism Act (Senate Hearing)
Statement of Chairman Kyl
(September 13th, 2004).

United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary The United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, informally the Senate Judiciary Committee, is a standing committee of 22 U.S. senators whose role is to oversee the Department of Justice (DOJ), consider executive and judicial nominations, a ...

, Subcommittee on Terrorism, Technology, and Homeland Security. The bill would have allowed FBI agents to seek warrants for surveillance of " lone wolf terrorists," allowed greater sharing of intelligence between federal authorities and state and local authorities, punish those making terrorism hoaxes, and impose 30-year mandatory-minimum penalties for possession of shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles, atomic and radiological bombs, and variola virus. However, perhaps due to the increasingly controversial nature of the Act, the Senate did not further consider the proposed legislation.

Lead up to reauthorization

By now the sunsets in the Patriot Act were getting closer to expiring. The Bush administration had been campaigning for the reauthorization of the Act for some time, with the President speaking about the Act in his 2004 State of the Union Address, where he said that, Alberto Gonzales - Oath of office (2005-02-14)

Alberto Gonzales - Oath of office (2005-02-14)

President Bush also strongly urged for the Patriot Act to be reauthorized immediately when he swore in the successor to Attorney General John Ashcroft,

Alberto Gonzales Alberto R. Gonzales (born August 4, 1955) is an American lawyer who served as the 80th United States Attorney General, appointed in February 2005 by President George W. Bush, becoming the highest-ranking Hispanic American in executive governme ...

. In his swearing-in speech for Gonzales, Bush stated that " ny key elements of the Patriot Act are now set to expire at the end of this year. We must not allow the passage of time or the illusion of safety to weaken our resolve in this new war. To protect the American people, Congress must promptly renew all provisions of the Patriot Act this year." In April 2005, a Senate Judicial Hearing on the Patriot Act was held. The newly appointed Attorney General admitted that he was "open to discussion" about the Act, but argued that not only was the Patriot Act working well and needed few changes, but that all 16 of the expiring sections of the Act should be reauthorized. He in particular commented on section 215, the section allowing national security authorities to produce court orders under FISA to gain access to personal records, and section 206, the roving wiretap authority provision. He emphasised "the department has not sought a Section 215 order to obtain library or bookstore records, medical records or gun sale records. Rather, the provision to date has been used only to obtain driver's license records, public accommodation records, apartment leasing records, credit card records and subscriber information, such as names and addresses for telephone numbers captured through court-authorized pen register devices." Section 217, the "sneak and peek" search provisions, were also raised as a concern and were defended by the Department of Justice.April 5th, 2005
Transcript of the Senate Judicial Hearing on the Patriot Act
source: ''

''. President Bush continued to campaign for the reauthorization of the Act. In a speech given in June 2005 to the Ohio State Highway Patrol Academy he reiterated his belief that key provisions should be reauthorized, and that "The Patriot Act has accomplished exactly what it was designed to do: it has protected American liberty and saved American lives. For the sake of our national security, Congress must not rebuild a wall between law enforcement and intelligence." However, by this time the Act was as controversial as ever, and more than a few groups were campaigning against it. Aside from the EFF, the ACLU, the CDT and the EPIC, the Act had raised the ire of the

(ALA) and the American Booksellers Foundation for Freedom of Expression, who were all extremely concerned about the provisions of the Patriot Act, with a particular focus on section 215. An even more disparate group called the "Patriots to Restore Checks and Balances" (or PRCB) had also been formed to campaign against the Act, and were urging Congress to let the sections expire. Many unlikely bedfellows formed this group, and those numbered in its membership including the ACLU, the

American Conservative Union The American Conservative Union (ACU) is an American political organization that advocates for conservative policies, ranks politicians based on their level of conservatism, and organizes the Conservative Political Action Conference. Founded on ...

, Gun Owners of America, and the

United States Libertarian Party The Libertarian Party (LP) is a political party in the United States that promotes civil liberties, non-interventionism, ''laissez-faire'' capitalism, and limiting the size and scope of government. The party was conceived in August 1971 at m ...

. The group had also supported the SAFE Act. A tense period followed as proponents and critics of the Act continued arguing their respective positions. Tensions came to a head on June 10, when a hearing into the Patriot Act by the

ended in furore. During the testimony on the reauthorization of the Act, Chairman James Sensenbrenner abruptly

gavel A gavel is a small ceremonial mallet commonly made of hardwood, typically fashioned with a handle. It can be used to call for attention or to punctuate rulings and proclamations and is a symbol of the authority and right to act officially in the ...

led the proceedings to a close after Congressional Democrats and their witnesses launched into broad denunciations of the War on Terrorism and the condition of detainees at Guantanamo Bay. In frustration, Sensenbrenner declared, "We ought to stick to the subject. The USA PATRIOT Act has nothing to do with Guantanamo Bay. The USA PATRIOT Act has nothing to do with enemy combatants. The USA PATRIOT Act has nothing to do with indefinite detentions." He then gavelled the meeting to a close and walked out with the gavel. However Jerrold Nadler, a Democratic Congressman representing New York's 8th congressional district, and other witnesses continued speaking despite Sensenbrenner's departure, and

C-SPAN Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network (C-SPAN ) is an American cable and satellite television network that was created in 1979 by the cable television industry as a nonprofit public service. It televises many proceedings of the United States ...

cameras continued to roll after microphones in the hearing room had been turned off. According to ''The Washington Post'', James J. Zogby, president of the

Arab American Institute The Arab American Institute (AAI) is a Nonprofit organization, non-profit membership organization that advocates for the interests of Arab Americans, Arab-Americans. Founded in 1985 by James Zogby, the brother of pollster John Zogby, the organiza ...

, complained that the action taken by the Chairman was "totally inappropriate — no mike on, and no record being kept" and that "I think as we are lecturing foreign governments about the conduct of their behavior with regard to opposition, I'm really troubled about what kind of message this is going to teach to other countries in the world about how they ought to conduct an open society that allows for an opposition with rights."

Reauthorization legislative history

Bush signs USA PATRIOT Improvement and Reauthorization Act

In June 2005, the Select Committee on Intelligence met behind closed doors to consider a draft proposal by Pat Roberts ( R- KS) which, among other things, would have removed the primary purpose of FISA warrants issued ''ex parte'' and ''in camera'' to be for foreign intelligence. Instead, the warrants could also have been used for purposes unrelated to foreign intelligence. This was condemned by the ACLU, with ACLU Attorney Lisa Graves complained that the secret hearings into the draft was "an attempt to force the debate onto their terms, versus where the momentum has been headed, which is to roll back the Patriot Act to bring it in line with the Constitution and make sure its tools are focused on terrorists, as opposed to Americans." The committee's proposed legislation was introduced into the House on July 21 as the ''USA PATRIOT and Terrorism Prevention Reauthorization Act of 2005''. It repealed the sunset date for surveillance provisions of the Patriot Act — in other words, it would have made those sections permanent. A number of amendments were also proposed and passed. Several of the amendments were to surveillance provisions and included an amendment that added to the list of terrorist crimes that could be used for obtaining electronic surveillance,H. AMDT 498
(21st June, 2005). Proposed by Daniel E. Lungren the requirement that the Director of the FBI must personally approve any library or bookstore requests by the FBI under section 215,H. AMDT 489
(21st June, 2005). Proposed by

Jeff Flake Jeffry Lane Flake (born December 31, 1962) is an American politician and diplomat who is the current U.S Ambassador to Turkey. A member of the Republican Party, Flake served in the United States House of Representatives from 2001 to 2013 and ...

making law enforcement report back to a court within 15 days of using the a roving wiretapH. AMDT 490
(21st June, 2005). Proposed by Darrell E. Issa and the narrowing of the scope for "sneak-and-peek" delayed notification search warrants.H. AMDT 495
(21st June, 2005). Proposed by

Several other amendments were related to NSLs, including allowing those in receipt of an NSL the ability to consult a lawyer and challenge it in courtH. AMDT 492
(21st June, 2005). Proposed by

and preventing the penalization of NSL recipients who are mentally incompetent, under undue stress, under threat of bodily harm, or under a threat of being fired if they disclose they have been served an NSL.H. AMDT 493
(21st June, 2005). Proposed by Maxine Waters The NSL gag order reform originated from a floor proposal by then Congressman

. The reauthorization bill also included a provision that ordered the inspector general of the Justice Department to conduct annual reviews of PATRIOT Act investigative tools, including NSLs. Other amendments included standardizing penalties for terrorist attacks and other violence against railroad carriers and mass transportation systems on land, water, or in the airH. AMDT 491
(21st June, 2005). Proposed by Shelley Moore Capito and clarifying the definition of terrorism in forfeiture laws.H. AMDT 494
(21st June, 2005). Proposed by

William D. Delahunt William David Delahunt (born July 18, 1941) is an American lawyer and politician from Massachusetts. He is a former U.S. Representative for , serving from 1997 to 2011. He is a member of the Democratic Party. Delahunt did not seek re-election i ...

Congressman

Howard Berman Howard Lawrence Berman (born April 15, 1941) is an American attorney and retired politician who served as a U.S. representative from California from 1983 to 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, he represented the state's 26th congressional ...

proposed an amendment that required a report to Congress on the development and use of data mining technology by departments and agencies of the Federal government.H. AMDT 497
(21st June, 2005). Proposed by

Howard L. Berman Howard Lawrence Berman (born April 15, 1941) is an American attorney and retired politician who served as a U.S. representative from California from 1983 to 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, he represented the state's 26th congressional di ...

Other amendments were proposed to other areas not covered by the USA PATRIOT Act, for instance one amendment defined a new crime of "narco-terrorism," while another addressed crime and terrorism at U.S. seaports. The bill was passed 257-171Roll call 414
for H.R. 3199. July 21st, 2005. however when it was introduced into the Senate it was replaced by a bill proposed by Arlen Specter, S.1389. The Senate then requested a

conference A conference is a meeting of two or more experts to discuss and exchange opinions or new information about a particular topic. Conferences can be used as a form of group decision-making, although discussion, not always decisions, are the main p ...

with the House. The House responded on September 11 that they unanimously disagreed with the Senate amendment, and agreed to a conference. They then attempted to make a number of changes to the bill however it was not enough for Republican senators Larry Craig, John Sununu and Lisa Murkowski, and Democratic senators Dick Durbin, Russ Feingold and

Ken Salazar Kenneth Lee Salazar (born March 2, 1955) is an American lawyer, politician, and diplomat who is the United States ambassador to Mexico. He previously served as the 50th United States Secretary of the Interior in the administration of President Ba ...

, who wrote a letter threatening to block the bill if further changes were not made. The House duly proposed a House report, which was incorporated into a Conference report, which was then presented to the Senate. However, the Senate rejected the report, and on December 16 refused to end debate on legislation to renew the Act. A cloture motion was then ordered, but it failed, having fallen seven votes short of invoking closure on the matter, leaving the future of the Act in doubt. The vote went as follows: Fifty Republicans as well as two Democrats voted unsuccessfully to end debate; Five Republicans, 41 Democrats and one independent voted to block.Senate Roll Call 358
for H.R. 3199. December 16th, 2005. With the sunsets threatening to expire, on December 21 the U.S. Senate came to a bipartisan agreement (S.2167) to extend by six months the expiring provisions of the Act.S. 2167
, ''

'' Under House rules, the House Judiciary Committee Chairman James Sensenbrenner had the authority to block enactment of the six-month extension. On the following day, the House rejected the six-month extension and voted for a one-month extension,House Amendment 678
(December 22nd, 2005), proposed by

James Sensenbrenner Frank James Sensenbrenner Jr. (; born June 14, 1943) is an American politician who represented in the United States House of Representatives from 1979 to 2021 (numbered as the 9th district until 2003). He is a member of the Republican Party. ...

. which the Senate subsequently approved later that night. However, on February 1, the House voted to again extend the sunsets to March 10. The reauthorization Act was finally passed on March 2 by the Senate with a vote of 95–4, though this was opposed by Senator Feingold who unsuccessfully attempted to extend the sunsets. The House voted 280–138 in favour of authorizing the Act. Finally, on March 8, President Bush signed the reauthorization Act, declaring that "The Patriot Act has served America well, yet we cannot let the fact that America has not been attacked since September the 11th lull us into the illusion that the terrorist threat has disappeared" and that the White House would "continue to give ilitary law enforcement, homeland security and intelligence professionalsthe tools to get the job done."Bush Speaks After Signing Patriot Act
(March 9, 2006). ''

''. Transcript. However, after the ceremony, he issued a

signing statement A signing statement is a written pronouncement issued by the President of the United States upon the signing of a bill into law. They are usually printed along with the bill in ''United States Code Congressional and Administrative News'' (USCCAN). ...

that "The executive branch shall construe the provisions of H.R. 3199 that call for furnishing information to entities outside the executive branch, such as sections 106A and 119, in a manner consistent with the President's constitutional authority to supervise the unitary executive branch and to withhold information the disclosure of which could impair foreign relations, national security, the deliberative processes of the Executive, or the performance of the Executive's constitutional duties" — in other words, he would not feel bound to comply with some of the provisions of the law if they conflicted with other Constitutional laws. This immediately drew a sharp rebuke from Senator Leahy, who condemned the statement as "nothing short of a radical effort to re-shape the constitutional separation of powers and evade accountability and responsibility for following the law ... The President's signing statements are not the law, and we should not allow them to be the last word. The President's constitutional duty is to faithfully execute the laws as written by the Congress. It is our duty to ensure, by means of congressional oversight, that he does so." In November 2019, the House approved a three-month extension of the Patriot Act which would have expired on December 15, 2019. Democratic leadership included it as part of a bigger "must pass" spending bill which was approved by a vote of 231–192, mostly along party lines with Democrats voting in favor and Republicans voting against. Only ten Democrats voted against it. Representative Justin Amash (Independent) submitted an amendment to remove the Patriot Act provisions, but it was defeated by the Democratically controlled Rules committee.

Judges strike key provisions

Although in the 2004 ''Doe v. Gonzalez'' case it was ruled that the NSL provisions of violated the First and Fourth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution, the Department of Justice had appealed against this decision. The reauthorization Act, however, modified the law and made judicial review a requirement of NSLs but never removed the permanent gag provision. Therefore, on September 6, 2007, U.S. District Judge

Victor Marrero Victor Marrero (born September 1, 1941) is a United States federal judge, Senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. Education and career Marrero was born in Santurce, San Juan, ...

ruled that the use of NSLs to gain access to e-mail and telephone data from private companies for counter-terrorism investigations was "the legislative equivalent of breaking and entering, with an ominous free pass to the hijacking of constitutional values." The court struck down NSLs because the gag power was unconstitutional and courts could still not engage in meaningful judicial review of these gags. Another provision struck down was the so-called "sneak and peek" provisions of the Patriot Act. These were struck down after the FBI wrongfully used the provision to arrest

attorney

on suspicions that he had been involved in the

. They had concluded this wrongly because they believed that they found his

fingerprint A fingerprint is an impression left by the friction ridges of a human finger. The recovery of partial fingerprints from a crime scene is an important method of forensic science. Moisture and grease on a finger result in fingerprints on surfac ...

on a bag of detonators found at the scene. Agents seized three hard drives and ten DNA samples preserved on cotton swabs, and took 335 photos of personal items. Mayfield then filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Government, contending that his rights were violated by his arrest and by the investigation against him, and that the sneak and peek provisions were unconstitutional. The Government was forced to apologise to Mayfield and his family, stating that " e United States acknowledges that the investigation and arrest were deeply upsetting to Mr. Mayfield, to Mrs. Mayfield, and to their three young children, and the United States regrets that it mistakenly linked Mr. Mayfield to this terrorist attack." However, Mayfield took it further and on September 26, 2007, judge

Ann Aiken Ann Louise Aiken (born December 29, 1951) is an American attorney and jurist in the state of Oregon. A native Oregonian, she has served as a state court judge of the Oregon circuit courts and worked in private legal practice. She is currently a ...

found that the searches violated the provision of the United States Fourth Amendment that prohibits unreasonable searches. Thus the law was declared unconstitutional.

References

External links

;Government sources :
"The USA PATRIOT Act: Preserving Life and Liberty"
by the Department of Justice :
H.R. 3199, Bill Summary and Status
;Supportive views
The Patriot Act and Related Provisions: The Heritage Foundation's Research

The Patriot Act, Reauthorized

JURIST A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyses and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal qualification in law and often a legal practitioner. In the Uni ...

;Critical views
PATRIOT Games: Terrorism Law and Executive Power

American Library Association's Resolution on the PATRIOT Act
{{Patriot Act Patriot Act Legal history of the United States