Title: Surveillance Under the USA/PATRIOT Act | American Civil Liberties Union
Headings: Surveillance Under the USA/PATRIOT Act
Surveillance Under the USA/PATRIOT Act
What is the "USA/Patriot" Act?
Why Congress passed the Patriot Act
The Patriot Act increases the government's power to spy in four areas
1. Expanded access to personal records held by third parties
2. More secret searches
3. Expansion of the intelligence exception in wiretap law
4. Expansion of the "pen register" exception in wiretap law
The erosion of accountability
Non-surveillance provisions

Content: Surveillance Under the USA/PATRIOT Act | American Civil Liberties Union
Surveillance Under the USA/PATRIOT Act
What is the "USA/Patriot" Act? Just six weeks after the September 11 attacks, a panicked Congress passed the "USA/Patriot Act," an overnight revision of the nation's surveillance laws that vastly expanded the government's authority to spy on its own citizens, while simultaneously reducing checks and balances on those powers like judicial oversight, public accountability, and the ability to challenge government searches in court. Why Congress passed the Patriot Act
Most of the changes to surveillance law made by the Patriot Act were part of a longstanding law enforcement wish list that had been previously rejected by Congress, in some cases repeatedly. Congress reversed course because it was bullied into it by the Bush Administration in the frightening weeks after the September 11 attack. The Senate version of the Patriot Act, which closely resembled the legislation requested by Attorney General John Ashcroft, was sent straight to the floor with no discussion, debate, or hearings. Many Senators complained that they had little chance to read it, much less analyze it, before having to vote. In the House, hearings were held, and a carefully constructed compromise bill emerged from the Judiciary Committee. But then, with no debate or consultation with rank-and-file members, the House leadership threw out the compromise bill and replaced it with legislation that mirrored the Senate version. Neither discussion nor amendments were permitted, and once again members barely had time to read the thick bill before they were forced to cast an up-or-down vote on it. The Bush Administration implied that members who voted against it would be blamed for any further attacks - a powerful threat at a time when the nation was expecting a second attack to come any moment and when reports of new anthrax letters were appearing daily.