Title: How the Patriot Act Works | HowStuffWorks
Headings: How the Patriot Act Works
How the Patriot Act Works
Main Provisions of the Patriot Act
Titles III-X of the Patriot Act
Primary Criticisms of the Act
A Brief History of the Patriot Act
Is the Patriot Act a Success or a Failure?
Opposing the Patriot Act
Citation

Content: Title VIII - This portion of the Patriot Act adds several crimes to the list of things considered acts of terrorism, including attacking a mass transit system, using a biological weapon, supporting terrorism and computer hacking. The penalties for terrorist crimes are also increased. Title IX - This section creates a method for the sharing of national intelligence information between government agencies. Title X - The final section of the Patriot Act contains a number of relatively minor, miscellaneous provisions. Advertisement
Primary Criticisms of the Act
President George W. Bush signs the Patriot Act into law. Photo courtesy of The White House
The Patriot Act has come under fire for a number of reasons. It was passed very quickly (just over a month after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks), and Congress spent very little time reading and debating it. By some accounts, less than 48 hours passed between the presentation of the bill’s final wording and the law passing in both houses of Congress, leading to some doubt whether many members of Congress actually read the lengthy and complex bill. However, Sen. Russ Feingold, a Democrat from Wisconsin, was the only senator to vote against the act, while several members of the House of Representatives joined his dissent or abstained from voting. Critics contend that such a crucial and sweeping piece of legislation deserved more thorough deliberation.