USA Patriot Act Search

The Patriot Act allows government agents to encroach on our constitutional rights.

The Fourth Amendment of the Constitution protects every person within the country's borders against unreasonable searches and seizures that could be conducted upon their persons, papers and effects. If any searches were to be conducted, criminal procedure law would govern those searches. That was true up until terrorists attacked New York City and the Pentagon, and the Bush Administration decided to change rules that had been on the books for hundreds of years.

Purpose of Rights to Freedom

The Fourth Amendment, along with the other components of the Bill of Rights, was adopted because the American people needed assurance that their federal government would not encroach on the freedoms they had won during the Revolutionary War. Americans had recently removed itself from the tyranny of the British government, and they were not keen on adopting a Constitution that did not grant the people certain freedoms. Those freedoms included: freedom of speech, freedom of religion, a freed press and the right to be free from warrant-less searches and seizures.

Proper Criminal Procedure

When a government agent conducts a search, that government agent must have probable cause. If a police officer wants to conduct a search, he must prepare a written affidavit stating the facts giving rise to probable cause to issue a warrant. A magistrate then decides whether to grant the warrant. If, however, the police officer does not have time to obtain a warrant, he may conduct a search based only on probable cause.

Persons, Houses, Papers, Effects

For Fourth Amendment purposes, "persons" refers to a person's entire body, the exterior of a person's body, the interior of a person's body, and a person's oral communications (when conversations are subjected to electronic surveillance). "Houses" refer to structures used as residences, buildings attached to those residences, buildings used for intimate home activities and land immediately surrounding a home. "Papers" include letters, diaries and business records. "Effects" encompass all other items that are not houses or papers.

Inceased Government Powers

The Patriot Act increased the government's powers in the areas of record searches, secret searches, intelligence searches and "trap and trace" searches. According to the American Civil Liberties Union, "one of the most significant provisions of the Patriot Act makes it far easier for the authorities to gain access to records of citizens' activities being held by a third party." Section 215 of the Patriot Act allows the FBI to force anyone to turn over customer and client records. That includes doctors, universities, libraries, bookstores and even Internet service providers.

Lack of Checks and Balances

Because neither the Fourth Amendment nor criminal procedure need be employed when government agents suspect terrorism, the government has free reign to conduct searches without probable cause. If the government gives the excuse of investigating terrorism, the government can easily access your medical history, financial records, Internet usage, book purchases, travel patterns and any other activity that leaves a record. In the Information Age, people should be concerned with the amount of personal information the government can access relatively easily compared to when the government actually followed the laws that have been on the books for so long.

References

• Legal Information Institute: U.S. Constitution
• American Civil Liberties Union: The Bill of Rights
• U.S. Code: Rule 41 Search and Seizure
• Lexis Nexis: Overview of Fourth Amendment Principles