Week 1
Reinaldo Mora-Torres
Carver (2016) details that many countries like our own have a tough time dealing with combating terrorism. The United States, post 9/11, had a reason to try and battle these atrocious acts as the largest scaled attack on our own soil. The patriot act was born from what some believe to unite the minds of our country against an element who wanted to try and fight against our freedoms. As time has come to a slowing halt from the wars and conflicts overseas, many have come to question its validity to continue the use of the Patriot Act. Many constituents now find that the Patriot Act are becoming a violation of an individual’s civil liberties when used on American soils.
The initial push to deter terrorism was a means to find out who and where to track any funding, communications and gather intelligence of terrorist organizations around the world (Carver, 2016). This allowed the intelligence communities a means to fight against such organizations. The legislations put into place still has not prevented smaller acts of violence or prevent communication efforts of terrorist from being committed against our country. For example, there have been numerous acts of terrorism since the legislation that has failed. Some incidents that have come to mind are the Boston bombers, Major Hassan active shooter on Fort Hood, to San Bernadino Shootings. Many of these incidents were known to have communicated with foreign channels and have many citizens questioning the use of this legislation on Americans.
As an individual, I would not and do not want my rights to be handed over to allow for more government intrusions. I believe the 4th amendment is one of the best amendments protecting civil liberties from unlawful search and seizures. As a law enforcement representative myself, I am taught and told to obtain a search warrant to gather evidence of a suspected crime. I believe this is based in our historic traditions and written in our constitution. It also allowed Americans to know that there are more protections under the color of the law. I believe that if I afford the government free reigns to conduct such inquiries brings about targeting of unnecessary search’s without having even a suspicion of committing a crime.
Carver, A. (2016). Parliamentary Attempts to Define Terrorism in Canada and Australia. Journal of Applied Security Research, 11(2), 124–138. https://doi.org/10.1080/19361610.2016.1137173
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