Bill of Rights Amendment 4: The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
PATRIOT ACT Sec 212 : A government entity may require a provider of electronic communication or remote computing service to disclose a record or other information pertaining to a subscriber to or customer of such service. So who trumps who..Does the Bill of Rights trump the PATRIOT ACT or does the PAT.ACT trump the Bill of Rights??
2007-04-14 08:53:01 · 11 answers · asked by ☯≈♥∞☼ 7 in Politics & Government ➔ Law & Ethics
Bill of Rights! Patriot act sucks even worse than Bush. And that is saying some!
2007-04-14 09:02:45 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
As a legal matter, the Constitution overrides any federal law that conflicts. See Article VI and the Supremacy Clause.
However, Sec 212 that you quote is not in conflict with the 4th Amendment. Because the information being sought is held by a "provider of electronic communication...." the govt is only accessing information from a companies files about a third-person (the subscriber or customer).
The phone company does not have standing to challenge the request, and the courts have long ago ruled that there is no expectation of privacy in records held by someone else.
2007-04-14 10:45:01 · answer #2 · answered by coragryph 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The Bill of Rights. The Founding Fathers had endured just such intrusions into individual rights as the Patriot act allows for generations and were very right in making them illegal in the country they began. That is why you cannot interfere with the postal service, etc.
The current Patriot Act is not the first time a so-called "Patriot Act" has been put in place. This one needs to be repealed ASAP!
2007-04-14 09:41:32 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
The Bill of Rights is part of the Constitution. No law can override the Constitution, you need to amend the Constitution to do that (not an easy thing to do).
The anti-American "Patriot" Act does, indeed violate the Constitution.
If we ever get a real government again, it will no doubt be shredded as it should have been in the first place.
2007-04-14 10:38:00 · answer #4 · answered by tehabwa 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Well, given they actually do overlap (I'm not a Constitutional atty. nor a judge) the Constitution is thew Supreme Law of the land. No law may supersede any part of the Constitution, unless another amendment is added, overruling the amendment (amendments 1-10 cannot be overridden with another amendment.)
So I'd say the fourth amendment is right, since it's been around since the late 1700's, and the Patriot Act act is less than 5 years old.
2007-04-14 09:03:39 · answer #5 · answered by amg503 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
I don't think we use the unPatriot Act on known criminals, blake. If they're KNOWN criminals, they are probably in jail.
The unPatriot Act is used on "suspected" criminals, which includes you, and everyone you know.
Years ago, we were innocent until proven guilty, now, we are guilty until proven innocent.
Here's the spooky part: The LAW isn't that keen on proving people innocent.
This is where it gets a little sticky.
2007-04-14 09:02:49 · answer #6 · answered by sarcasm_generator 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Bill of rights wins. Patriot act needs to have parts of it repealed so it doesn't conflict with the constitution.
2007-04-14 08:56:33 · answer #7 · answered by truthspeaker10 4 · 4⤊ 1⤋
Keep in mind that the Patriot Act is only to be used in criminal investigation. Regular non-criminal citizens hold the Bill of Rights. It's all in the situation.
2007-04-14 08:57:50 · answer #8 · answered by Pilot 4 · 2⤊ 5⤋
lol yeh when's the last time you ran into one of those terrorists? they don't even try to come up with good lies anymore
2016-05-19 23:50:00 · answer #9 · answered by ? 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The two are not exclusive to each other.
I am a civil libertarian but I am one that is on the side of the United States of America.
I want terrorists found and killed on sight. I think you Democrats worry to much about Their rights and not enough about the security of the country.
We are at war with more than just Iraq son. We are at war with Islam and you are not on my side.
You are on theirs. You are thier useful idiot.
http://www.amazon.com/Useful-Idiots-Liberals-Wrong-America/dp/0060579412/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/104-3605785-6903958?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1176580810&sr=8-1
2007-04-14 08:57:15 · answer #10 · answered by John16 5 · 0⤊ 7⤋