What’s so patriotic about the U.S.A. P.A.T.R.I.O.T. Act?


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To appear in:
Robinson, Matthew B. (2005).  Justice Blind? Ideals and Realities of American Criminal Justice (2nd Edition).  Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.


For a complete and updated series on the USA PATRITO Act, please click HERE

 Although the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 against the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. may seem like the first time America was attacked by terrorists, this is not the case. There have been several notable attacks, even in recent history.
 
For example, on February 26, 1993, a rented van packed with explosives blew up in a basement parking garage within the World Trade Center, killing 6 people and injuring more than 1,000. The convicted bombers received life sentences for this crime, which was aimed at killing far more people using cyanide canisters that did not explode as planned. On April 19, 1995, a rented van packed with explosives blew up in front of the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, killing 168 people and injuring more than 400. The convicted murderer was executed by lethal injection in Terre Haute, Indiana.

 As a result of such events, our federal government has passed various laws that have great importance for the activities of police, courts, and corrections at all levels of government. They also have great import for the main issues of this book, especially the balance between proponents of the crime control and due process models of criminal justice.

 What follows is a brief summary of some of the most important anti-terrorism laws and some commentary on their meaning for justice in the United States. First, The Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 was signed into law on April 24, 1996. According to U.S. State Department, this law:

 The aspects of the law that are most controversial deal with limiting habeas corpus petitions, which are judicial mandates to prison officials requiring that inmates be brought to the court in order to determine whether or not prisoners are lawfully imprisoned based on the facts of their cases and the law. According to The Federal Judiciary, the law “creates one-year deadlines for filing habeas petitions, limits successive petitions, and generally restricts the review of state prisoner petitions if the claim was adjudicated on the merits in the state courts.” The law also  “establishes special habeas corpus procedures for capital cases in states with mechanisms for the appointment, compensation, and payment of reasonable litigation expenses of counsel in state post-conviction proceedings brought by indigent prisoners” and “establishes a 180-day time frame in which a petitioner must file a habeas petition, restricts the scope of federal review.” When it comes to the death penalty, we know that expediting the process by limiting appeals increases the likelihood that errors (in this case, fatal errors) will be made (see Chapter 10). Any time an innocent person is punished for a crime, justice is not achieved. Finally, the law makes it easier to deport aliens by streamlining the deportation process after they serve their sentences. The Aviation and Transportation Security Act was signed into law on November 19, 2001.  According to the GOP, this law:  
 The aspects of the law that are most controversial deal with directing pilots to be armed. Many Americans feel uncomfortable with pilots being armed and/or pilots firing weapons while flying airplanes. Even pilots spoke out against being responsible for defending their planes, suggesting that the government and the airlines ought to take responsibility for preventing acts of violence in the air.

 The most controversial law to be passed in the wake of the attacks of September 11, 2001, is the U.S.A. P.A.T.R.I.O.T. Act (Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism), which was signed into law with almost no debate on October 24, 2001 (only 45 days after the attacks).  The bill was 342 pages long, yet many members of Congress say they did not even read it before voting in favor of it.

 The state purpose of the law was: “To deter and punish terrorist acts in the United States and around the world, to enhance law enforcement investigatory tools, and for other purposes.” It is these “other purposes” that have legal experts and normal citizens very worried. This law is very complicated and modifies several existing laws, but essentially it allows the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), and other agencies of the Office of Homeland Security to:


 Legal experts have suggested that the law erodes elements of the First, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, and Eighth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution, because it is possible that the U.S. government will use its unlimited authority to spy on American citizens without any evidence of criminal activity, to do so in secret, without judicial oversight, and without any accountability to the American people.

 Perhaps this is why, at the time of this writing, more than one hundred towns and counties have already passed resolutions against this law. Additionally, 2 states have done the same. More than 100 more towns and counties are now working to do the same.

 Still, according to The Center for Public Integrity, the U.S. Department of Justice apparently wants to expand the USA PATRIOT act. The Center for Public Integrity obtained a draft of The Domestic Security Enhancement Act of 2003, dated January 9, 2003 and written by the staff of Attorney General John Ashcroft, which has not been officially released or proposed to Congress. The draft of the bill is being referred to as PATRIOT ACT II, would:


 These laws, both proposed and passed, and the reactions to them by Americans, serve as a good example of the struggle to maintain a balance between security (crime control or crime prevention) and individual liberty (due process). At this current time, it is safe to conclude that efforts are being made by the U.S. government to restrict the liberties of all Americans in order to prevent or reduce the threat of terrorism on our soil.
 

For a complete and updated series on the USA PATRITO Act, please click HERE