Patriot Act Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Patriot Act - Research Paper Example The Department of Justice designed and developed the drafts for this new law. This legislation is intended to fortify the measures and reinforce the available tools to deal with domestic and international terrorism. It also provides a number of new techniques to the Central Intelligence Agency, Federal Bureau of Investigation and federal prosecutors (Jenks). Under these interventions, the US agencies can identify and prosecute terrorist networks at the national and international levels. Central to the US PATRIOT Act is its unique feature of streamlining communications between the different agencies addressing terrorism and terrorist activities. This Act has simplified the task of investigation and surveillance, by introducing less involved procedures. Funding for the victims of terrorist acts and the families of such victims has been substantially enhanced under the provisions of this exemplary Act. Moreover, it provides ample funds for reconstructing infrastructure and business that had been destroyed or damaged by terrorism (Fritscher). This Act has been sub – divided into 10 sections or titles. These titles consist of several sections that explain the provisions of that particular title. A concrete definition is provided in the titles and sections to the federal government. The aim of this delineation is to clarify the powers conferred upon the enforcement agencies, with regard to the investigation of terrorist activities. It is important to note that the provisions of the US PATRIOT Act also contain several checks and balances that are aimed at preventing the abuse of power (Fritscher). Argument 1 The USA PATRIOT Act establishes special scrutiny measures for foreign jurisdictions. Thus, enforcement officials can prosecute international terrorist organizations and foreign financial institutions. It also empowers them to deal with certain classes of international transactions and accounts, if these are suspected of being put to criminal use. This Act r equires all international financial service agencies to monitor their transactions and to report any instances of money laundering. The Act further strengthens measures to prevent the misuse of the US financial system for personal gains, by corrupt foreign officials (USA PATRIOT Act). In addition, it provides mechanisms to repatriate stolen assets to the country to which they belong. Prior to the enactment of the US PATRIOT Act, the law enforcement agencies of the US had found it very difficult to take direct action, in order to prevent acts of terrorism or to monitor terrorist activity in the country. It was believed in many quarters that substantial alterations had to be made to the existing laws, if the contemporary terrorist organizations were to be dealt with in a competent manner (Patriot Act 2001). These terrorist organizations, such as the notorious al Qaeda, were very well organized and had access to the highly sophisticated contemporary communications technology. The propo nents of increased domestic surveillance have rightly claimed that the harm caused by the possibility of breach of the rights of the US citizens was insignificant. This was in comparison to the immeasurable harm that terrorists could inflict upon the nation, by taking advantage of the absence of domestic surveillance. Such surveillance is indispensable if another terrorist attack of the