The USA PATRIOT Act was passed 45 days after 9/11 to enhance domestic security and increase surveillance powers. It impacted laws around intelligence gathering, immigration, and more. While proponents argued it granted needed powers to fight terrorism, critics said it infringed on civil liberties. There have been ongoing legal challenges around its scope and application. As time has passed, there are calls to reevaluate the act and ensure powers are not abused.

1. USA PATRIOT Act
LES SMITH
SEPTEMBER 1, 2014

2. 9/11
Al Qaeda's attack on the Twin Towers and the
Pentagon on September 11, 2001 spurred a
“call to action” for our government and our
population as a whole.

3. Response Chronology
 First Bills Initially Introduced:
 Combating Terrorism Act
 Public Safety and Cyber Security Enhancement Act
 Intelligence to Prevent Terrorism Act
 Anti-terrorism Act of 2001
 Financial Terrorism Act
 Within 45 days of September 11, 2011 Congress had developed and enacted the “Uniting And Strengthening
America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism” (USA PATRIOT Act)
 Ten Titles with over 156 sections
 Impacting - Key acts changed were the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (FISA), the Electronic
Communications Privacy Act of 1986 (ECPA), the Money Laundering Control Act of 1986 and Bank Secrecy Act
(BSA), as well as the Immigration and Nationality Act
 Also impacting the Departments/Agencies – Treasury, Central Intelligence, Homeland Security, Federal Bureau
of Investigation, as well as, all three braches of government
 And challenging the First, Fourth and Fifth Amendments….

4. Preliminary Take – Pros and Cons
 The Act grants federal officials greater powers to trace and intercept terrorists’
communications both for law enforcement and foreign intelligence purposes. It
reinforces federal anti-money laundering laws and regulations in an effort to deny
terrorists the resources necessary for future attacks. It tightens our immigration laws
to close our borders to foreign terrorists and to expel those among us. Finally, it
creates a few new federal crimes, such as the one outlawing terrorists’ attacks on mass
transit; increases the penalties for many others; and institutes several procedural
changes, such as a longer statute of limitations for crimes of terrorism.
 Critics have suggested that it may go too far. The authority to monitor e-mail traffic, to
share grand jury information with intelligence and immigration officers, to confiscate
property, and to impose new book-keeping requirements on financial institutions, are
among the features troubling to some.

5. USA PATRIOT Act
 Title I – Enhancing Domestic Security
 Counterterrorism fund
 Condemnation of Arab and Muslim American discrimination
 Increased funding for the FBI
 Request for military assistance to assist in emergencies
 Expansion of National Electronic Crime Task Force
 Presidential authority (emergency powers act)

6. USA PATRIOT Act
 Title II – Enhanced Surveillance Procedures
 Authority to intercept wire, oral and electronic communications relating to terrorism, computer fraud and abuse offenses
 Authority to share criminal investigative information
 Clarification of intelligence exceptions from limitations on interception and disclosure of wire, oral and electronic
communication
 Employed translators at FBI
 Roving surveillance authority under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act
 Duration of FISA surveillance of non-US persons who are agents of a foreign power
 Seizure of voice mail messages pursuant to warrants
 Emergency disclosure of electronic communications to protect life
 Authority for delaying notice of execution of a warrant
 Access to records and other items under the FISA
 Modification of authorities relating to use of pen registers and trap and trace devices
Pen register is a device
that tracks all numbers
called from a particular
phone

7. USA PATRIOT Act
 Title II – Enhanced Surveillance Procedure (cont.)
 Interception of Computer trespasser information
 Foreign intelligence information
 Single jurisdiction search warrants
 Nationwide service

8. USA PATRIOT Act
 Title III – International Money Laundering Abatement and Anti-Terrorist Financing Act
 Special due diligence for correspondent accounts and private banking accounts
 Long arm jurisdiction over foreign money launderers
 Forfeiture of foreign funds and proceeds of foreign crimes
 Verification of identification
 International cooperation on identification of originators of wire transfers
 Amendments related to reporting suspicious activity
 Development of a financial crimes enforcement network (FinCEN)
 Establishment of a highly secure network
 Extraterritorial jurisdiction

9. USA PATRIOT Act
 Title IV – Protecting the Border
 Ensuring adequate personnel are on the northern border
 Foreign student monitoring program
 Participation of Homeland Security on Entry-Exit Task Force
 Mandatory detention of suspected terrorists; habeas corpus, judicial review

10. USA PATRIOT Act
 Title V – Removing Obstacles to Investigating Terrorism
 Paying rewards to combat terrorism
 DNA identification of terrorists and other violent criminals
 Extension of Secret Service jurisdiction
 Disclosure of educational records and National Center for Education Statistics (NCES)

11. USA PATRIOT Act
 Title VI – Providing for Victims of Terrorism, Public Safety Officers and Their
Families
 Expedited payment to those public safety officers involved in the prevention, rescue or
recovery efforts required due to terrorism
 Public safety officers benefit program with pay increases
 Crime victims fund, compensation and assistance

12. USA PATRIOT Act
 Title VII – Increased Information Sharing for Critical Infrastructure Protection
 Regional information sharing (within US)

13. USA PATRIOT Act
 Title VIII – Strengthening Criminal Laws Against Terrorism
 Jurisdiction over crimes committed against US facilities abroad
 Technical clarification of what constitutes material support to a terrorist organization
 No statute of limitation for terrorism offenses
 Alternate maximum penalties for terrorism offenses
 Post-release supervision of terrorists
 Development and support of cybersecurity forensic capabilities
 Expansion of the biological weapons statute

14. USA PATRIOT Act
 Title IX – Improved Intelligence
 Inclusion of international terrorist activities within the scope of foreign intelligence
under the National Security Act of 1947
 Congress to establish and maintain intelligence relationships to acquire information on
terrorists and terrorist organizations
 Temporary authority to defer submittal to Congress of reports on intelligence and
intelligence related matters
 Foreign terrorist asset tracking center
 National Virtual Translation Center
 Improved training programs for gathering and using foreign intelligence

15. USA PATRIOT Act
 Title X – Miscellaneous
 Definition of electronic surveillance
 Venue in money laundering cases
 Limitation on the issuance of hazmat licenses
 Expansion and reauthorization of crime identification technology act for anti-terrorism
grants to States and localities
 Critical infrastructure protection

16. ACLU Challenge (July 30, 2003)
 As the ACLU described in a report released today, Section 215 of the PATRIOT Act
violates constitutional protections against unreasonable searches and seizures as well
as the rights to freedom of speech and association. The report, Unpatriotic Acts: The
FBI's Power to Rifle Through Your Records and Personal Belongings Without Telling
You, describes how the law:
 Violates the Fourth Amendment by allowing the FBI to search and seize records or personal
belongings without a warrant, without showing probable cause -- and without ever notifying
even innocent people of the searches;
 Violates the First Amendment because it allows the FBI to easily obtain information about a
person's reading habits, religious affiliations, Internet surfing and other expressive activities
that would be ""chilled"" by the threat of investigation;
 Violates the First Amendment by imposing a ""gag order"" that prohibits those served with
Section 215 orders from telling anyone -- ever -- that the FBI demanded information, even if
the information is not tied to a particular suspect and poses no risk to national security.

17. Other Challenges
 “the Act offends basic civil liberties under the First, Fourth and Fifth Amendments.”
(Committee on Civil Rights of the New York Bar Association)
 The Court found that FISA as amended by the Patriot Act was a constitutionally reasonable
response to the terrorist threat.
 Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) - CCR’s motion was filed in a pending lawsuit,
Humanitarian Law Project v. Ashcroft, that has already declared unconstitutional part of
the material support statute. In March 2000, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth
Circuit Court barred enforcement of criminal bans on providing “personnel” and
“training” to proscribed groups, finding that these prohibitions are unconstitutionally
vague and could criminalize a wide range of First Amendment-protected speech, from
writing an op-ed to lobbying or teaching human rights advocacy

18. Latest and Potentially the Biggest
Challenge
 Edward Snowden
 Meta-data files collecting information on everyone in the U.S. (using only
what they need to fight terrorism)
 Spying on both our enemies and our allies

19. Conclusion
 In 45 days Congress acted to modify our laws and statutes in massive ways to take on a
completely new challenge
 Our biggest challenge was no longer large country states
 This new challenge was and could still be within our national boundaries
 This enemy was not one to be impacted by world diplomacy and economic pressure
 The enemy was fanatical in their belief that the west was the root of all evil
 Thankfully there has not been another attack on American soil since 9/11 that had such
a horrendous impact
 Is there over-reach built into the Patriot Act – Probably
 Something big needed to be done right away
 Challenges and changes have occurred and should continue to occur

20. Conclusion (cont.)
 Are the changes made as a result of the Patriot Act prone to abuses, possibly –
 Guantanamo Bay
 Spying on our allies
 Very open access to electronic, educational and medical information of all US citizens
With changes that have now been tested over the period from 2001 - 2014, I believe it is time to
revisit this statute and evaluate –
 What has worked and what hasn’t
 Are we achieving results while minimizing the impact to the constitutional freedoms we have
become accustomed to
 Do we have the right balance of checks and balances and oversight to assure abuses of power
remain the exception

21. References
 http://www.fincen.gov/statutes_regs/patriot
 http://www.Wikipedia.org
 LEGISLATIVE HISTORY—H.R. 3162:
CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, Vol. 147 (2001):
Oct. 23, 24, considered and passed House.
Oct. 25, considered and passed Senate.
WEEKLY COMPILATION OF PRESIDENTIAL DOCUMENTS, Vol. 37 (2001):
Oct. 26, Presidential remarks.
 patriotact.com
 www.aclu.org
 Fernando A. Bohorquez, Jr. (February 2005) “Challenges to Challenging The Patriot Act
- Limits on Judicial Review and a Proposal for Reform”