Not So Patriotic

In the so-called “War on Terror,” a few of our civil liberties just became permanent casualities. Last week, just days before the USA Patriot Act was set to expire, President Bush signed legislation that effectively makes the stipulations of the act permanent. Narrowly ratified by the House by only two votes, the bill will allow the government to continue to use the terror-fighting tools that were first passed in the panicked aftermath of the 9/11 attacks. Although we recognize the necessity of taking steps to fight terrorism, parts of the Patriot Act overstep reasonable bounds. This sort of legislation makes way for more laws that encroach on personal liberties, and it marks a dangerous precedent.

The intention of the Patriot Act—to protect the citizens of the United States—is a sincere one. Of course, security is a continuum that comes, to some extent, as a tradeoff with privacy; a nation that has complete privacy is not a safe nation, but, likewise, a nation that has complete security is one with no privacy. It is in the best interest of the country to maintain some degree of privacy amongst its citizens.

According to the Bush administration, the Patriot Act has been crucial in protecting Americans from falling victim to terrorist attacks. President Bush says that the legislation has been vital in detecting terrorist cells and squelching plots of attack.

And to be fair, the new legislation is not without its bright spots. Those subpoenaed under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, for example, for library, medical, and computer records, may now challenge a gag order in court. But the legislation renews many of the original act’s provisions that would have been better left to die, including, obviously, the passage that allows the government to obtain these “tangible items” (such as business, medical, and library records) in the first place. This provision—arguably the centerpiece of the Patriot Act—allows the government to conduct searches upon the basis of “reasonable necessity” without the knowledge of those being searched. Though defenders of the provision call it an “expansion” of the Fourth Amendment, in reality it is a clear violation of that constitutional right.

The Act’s renewal is not the only recent invasion of citizens’ privacy in the name of fighting terror that gives us pause. In the fall, the Bush administration came under fire when it was found to have authorized secret warrant-free wiretapping of Americans. In 2004, a proposal made its way through the Department of Education policy chain to establish a government database to keep track of everything from academic records to sports teams. Supposedly designed to better track students’ progress and help improve educational developments, the plan included no way for students to opt out of being tracked.

With the renewal of the Patriot Act, citizens must be forewarned. The passage of this legislation makes way for less privacy and more for overly intrusive probing of private citizens’ everyday activities. The Patriot Act, as written, may leave us feeling less worried about terrorism, but it should also leave us anxious about whether or not there are any American ideals left to protect from terrorism.