The Patriot Act

The US congress enacted the Patriotic Act in October 26, 2006. This was a response to the then president, George Bush, after terrorist acts of 2001. This paper will discuss and take a stand on opinions by the American Civil Liberties Union and give the reasons for the stand.ACLU vs.

United States Department of JusticeOf the two sides, I support the American Civil Liberties Union concerning the Patriot Act. I support the ACLU from its argument that the president’s call to re-authorize the Act without correcting the contentious issues is flawed. The reasons for my support stem from the fact that the Patriotic Act is meant to give the Judicial Department powers to apprehend could be terrorists and normal citizens alike. I strongly feel that this is an infringement of the constitution. The Act undid previous civil liberty abuse checks of the past as well as endangers privacy of its citizens and discourages freedom of speech.

One wonders whether the proponents of the Bill were in a rush to have it passed. The proponents of the Bill could have re-evaluated its flaws and come up with a generally accepted and accommodating Bill (ACLU 2005).I also support the ACLU argument that the conference report was agreed on a party line basis, this is a matter of concern because the Bill affects not only Republican loyalists but all Americans. The argument ACLU that the Act is open to abuse and expeditions to the privacy of innocent Americans, is also a genuine concern by ACLU that I do support (ACLU 2005).The Patriot Act was passed on 26 October 26, soon after the September 11 attacks. With that urgency, the Bill contained many flaws and the ACLU urged lawmakers to reject the Bill.

I support the ACLU argument because like them, I also feel that the White House was under pressure to enact such a Bill which only achieved to curtail the constitution. The bill infringes on Americas freedom and privacy and thus should be re-drafted to be an all inclusive bill. The Act although important to address such issue like terrorism, it should recognize law abiding citizens and separate them from terrorists.