The Patriot Act?

[UltimaLimit]

Please, READ THIS POST before replying--don't just fire off a rant.

I know next to nothing about the Patriot Act, which is why I'm making this thread. I'm hoping you guys can point me to some reliable links on the matter, and can explain the gist of it to me. I am NOT asking for opinions on the Patriot Act. (Not that I don't welcome them--by all means, discuss. Just do me a favor and don't turn it into an anti-Bush Administration rant.)

In short, I'm hoping you can educate me a little. I tried Google, but got half a million blogs and web sites of opinions, most of them anti-Bush administration. Newspapers are biased, so I can't entirely trust them, but I'm hoping there's a complete copy of it somewhere online. If anyone can point me to it, that'd be great. Frankly, I don't have much free time to spare looking for it.

I'll check this thread when I can. Thanks for your time.

[udsuna]

Long story short: it gives the federal government almost ulimited power that cannot be scrutinized by anyone outside the government. As in, they still need to go through proper channels, like obtaining search warrents and acquiring probable cause. But those records then get sealed away under "classified" status, in order to protect investigators so they might get the drop on terrorists.

It also restructures the investigative branches in ways that I'm not completely clear on, and are too tedious worry much about unless it affects your job. Toss in some other funding allocations and various bits of infastructure issues... and mix in a paranoia not seen since the days of the Cold War.

Actually, in and of itself, alone, it's not so much different than the atypical "don't know, don't care" mentality of modern america. The only difference is that NOW, slap on the name "patriot act" and you CAN'T find out the details. The closest to a rant I'm going for.

You should be able to find the detailed records in the government records. The changes themselves ARE a matter of public record, conveniently located on file at the Library of Congress and similar sources.

[lordblazer]

Please, READ THIS POST before replying--don't just fire off a rant.

I know next to nothing about the Patriot Act, which is why I'm making this thread. I'm hoping you guys can point me to some reliable links on the matter, and can explain the gist of it to me. I am NOT asking for opinions on the Patriot Act. (Not that I don't welcome them--by all means, discuss. Just do me a favor and don't turn it into an anti-Bush Administration rant.)

In short, I'm hoping you can educate me a little. I tried Google, but got half a million blogs and web sites of opinions, most of them anti-Bush administration. Newspapers are biased, so I can't entirely trust them, but I'm hoping there's a complete copy of it somewhere online. If anyone can point me to it, that'd be great. Frankly, I don't have much free time to spare looking for it.

I'll check this thread when I can. Thanks for your time.

dude I think you should retrieve a copy of the Patriot Act.It shouldn't be hard to get.

[Lionx]

Isnt that the with us or against us policy? Maybe i am wrong...someone enlighten me? Oo

I do know that Patriot in the Act is just a facade to make it look good though..i know that much.

[DocFrance]

The Patriot Act was a bunch of policies that involved stepping up surveillance and counter-intelligence programs in an effort to prevent future terrorist attacks. It also included heavy monitoring of "suspected" individuals, as well as the suspension of the Writ of Habeus Corpus.

I could be wrong, but the Patriot Act was never passed due to the unconstitutionality of it all.

[The Captain]

It WAS passed the first time around right after 9/11 thanks to the strong push by the Bush Administration and has thus expired it's current run, and so far has not been renewed by Congress, but that can change.

Here's a link:

http://www.epic.org/privacy/terrorism/hr3162.html

Take care all.

[Raistlin]

The Patriot Act was the biggest constitutional abomination since the Sedition Act of 1920.

The biggest unconstitutional part of it was it gave federal law enforcers(cops, FBI agents, etc) the ability to arrest anyone they even suspected of being a terrorist, without the necessity of a warrant, which flies in the face of the 4th Amendment and the 14th Amendment.

I could rant on more, but that's the biggest part.

[UltimaLimit]

Thank you, Captain, for the link. I'll read through it when I get a chance--for now, I'm skimming it to get the basic ideas. Thanks everyone for explaining it.

[ravenzero2000]

Isnt that the with us or against us policy? Maybe i am wrong...someone enlighten me?

Absolutely, however if you think about it, most of the constitutional rights no longer matter (it seems) I've had most of my rights trampled on, and with the patriot act it allows you to have no privacy and basically gives the gov. to watch you every second of everyday. :shoot:

[DocFrance]

Absolutely, however if you think about it, most of the constitutional rights no longer matter (it seems) I've had most of my rights trampled on, and with the patriot act it allows you to have no privacy and basically gives the gov. to watch you every second of everyday. :shoot:

I think you're grossly exaggerating things. How have your rights been trampled on, specifically?

[Raistlin]

The Right to Privacy is a myth, like the seperation of church and state. The only "privacy" you are granted is that by the 4th amendment - the protection against unreasonable search and seizure(basically, being arrested/searched without a warrant). There are also some federal regulations and laws towards how police can get evidence which deals with the "expectation of privacy," but that's about it.

Also, consitutional rights do matter, just that some people are losing sight of that fact. The Bush administration, for example, lost sight of the fact that the entire purpose of our government is first and foremost to protect the innocent - not to punish the guilty.
In a national poll that was handed around my campus, an astonishing number(it was somewhere between 20-40% for each - I can't remember the exact numbers) of high school students thought that free speech was being protected too much, and thought that newspaper articles should be federally regulated. That kind of thing scares me.

[nik0tine]

I could be wrong, but the Patriot Act was never passed due to the unconstitutionality of it all.

You are wrong. Unfortunately.

Raistlin... Are you serious about that? That IS scary. This country seems to be heading into it's darkest days...

[edczxcvbnm]

GO CANADA! I mean, I can't believe this government could ever pass anything like the patriot act.

In other unrelated news I can't believe all the stuff that is happening with the military. This is just alienating Europe more.

[The Captain]

Do you mean what happened with the Italian journalist?

Take care all.

[lordblazer]

You are wrong. Unfortunately.

Raistlin... Are you serious about that? That IS scary. This country seems to be heading into it's darkest days...

Yeah I agree because the fact that the Patriot Act did pass.Raistlin reminds me of someone who denies the Holocaust ever happening.Anyway I doubt the people in congress and Senate didn't read this Act before passing it.