What rights have we lost under the Patriot act, exactly?

Question

Many people on here, like me, are sick and tired of people claiming the Patriot Act is a huge attack on our personal rights. So, which rights have we lost exactly? Cause I personally have not been affected by them. I don't talk to terrorists on my phone nor am I an enemy combatant fighting against our military personal.

So please, explain this to me, cause I guess I'm just ignorant.

Chi, I don't question you. And the warrentless wiretapping has been fixed, as you said. However, the only citizen that I know of that has been held without a lawyer was Padillas. Have any citizens not engaging or working with terrorists been arrested, sent to Gitmo, or the like?

Truth Seeker, not bad. Good answer, yet I don't know of many who have been affected by any of the situations you speek of, and the right to assembly hasn't been affected like you say. Or else Cindy Sheehan wouldn't have been heard of.

LuvDylan, thanks for your "informed" answer. You really persuaded me there. Wanna try actually answering the question?

Bryan, you don't think something like that could have happened before the Patriot Act? I can name you ten instances before 2001 when unneccessary searches and seizures were used against citizens. The Patriot Act is no boogie man people, it's being used as a propoganda tool by liberals in the government. If they really thought this was a horrible bill, they wouldn't have passed it, and would have discontinued voting for it.

Answer 1

The right to transfer money to terrorist networks, the right to plan attacks against this country and the right to communicate with known terrorists overseas.
You are exactly right. The Patriot Act is very narrow on who it effects. The fact is, liberals were crying right after 9/11 about why Bush and the rest of the conservatives didn't do something to stop this. They asked questions like, "Why weren't you monitoring the individuals who carried out these attacks?" and "Did you know where they were getting their money and information from?". They also asked why our intelligence community "dropped the ball". Thus, the Patriot act was established to fix a system that was found lacking. Now that they have forgotten about the lives lost on that terrible day, they want to return things to normal.

Those that assume the government is monitoring their emails and phone conversations don't know very much about the Patriot act, nor do they know about how few resources they have to do such a thing. Government is not as organized as the conspiracy theorists say. I see mostly ignorance, such as "the government can monitor your phone conversations without your permission or a warrant." Perhaps without your permission, but the warrant was granted when the courts deemed listening to phone conversations with certain groups legal. Perhaps those who speak as if they know what they are talking about should actually read the Patriot act. Sadly, most just recite the typical liberal rhetoric and unknowingly show how inept they really are.

Because most are too slow to know where to find the full text of the act, I have attached it below. Revisions can be found under the same link.

Answer 2

How about freedom of speech?

There are a number of freedom of speech issues in the various forms of the Patriot Act, but I'll just mention the one associated with National Security Letters (NSL). An NSL is a letter from the executive branch demanding information. Those receiving the letter are not allowed to tell anyone. This type of unchecked power encourages all kinds of abuse --imagine an NSL requiring information that would require huge costs, possibly even putting someone out of business. This could be used to cause trouble for people making waves for the administration.

The 4th amendment protects us from unreasonable searches. Oversight by the judicial branch using such things as warrants helps to keep the executive branch in check and abuse of power minimized.

You may not be affected by this particular issue yet, but this represents another nail in the coffin of our constitutional protections. Some day you will wake up and not have any rights.

Answer 3

You ask: "What rights have we lost under the Patriot act, exactly?"
The rights that our constitution afforded us. Do you not think that our system of checks and balances is important?
What about peaceful assembly? Why do we have to videotape antiwar protesters? When The US was a democracy, that would have been considered intimidation and a breach of our first amendment rights.
I can go on, but I'm going to bed.

Oh, also just because your life hasn't been directly affected by something, doesn't make it meaningless to the rest of society. We do have others in the population who matter too... Slavery didn't effect whites in a negative way, so why bother being against it?
It's about preserving freedom, and a dictatorial regime with BIG government taking the place of our constitutional rights isn't what we've ever stood for as a nation.
Also you're not ignorant if you are seeking an answer. Ignorant people are the ones who don't ask because they think they know everything.

Answer 4

The right to trial by jury -

The president, alone, can declare any US citizen to be an "enemy combatant". Once done, that citizen can be arrested and shipped to Gitmo INDEFINITELY without given access to an attorney.

The right to privacy -

If ANY US citizen has a phone conversation with ANYONE outside of US borders, that citizen's phone conversation can be tapped, recorded, and stored indefinitely with NO ONE other than the president and the NSA being aware this action has occurred.

Even though FISA allowed for the NSA to tap a line BEFORE getting a warrant within 30 days after the start of the tap, that oversight is now gone.

== This question has been answered factually and thoroughly

Answer 5

You wouldn't know if you'd been affected by them.

Your government now has the authority to secretly monitor your e-mail and telephone conversations (and Bush wanted to extend it to opening the mail of U.S. citizens) without your consent and without obtaining a warrant first.

That means that you have had your rights taken away. The 4th Amendment states that the government must obtain a warrant before performing a search of your property, and courts have determined that "search" encompasses wiretapping.

Understand now?

You should be horrified.

Answer 6

Once again, no pinhead liberal can explain in specific terms the rights they have lost. It's the endless victim card that they wave. It's almost like lemmings... Yeah...YEAH...that sounds good..it's violating my free speech...YEAH...

Answer 7

4th amendment, 6th amendment, etc. I guess you won't be needing those?

150 local governments have passed Anti-patriot act resolutions.

I guess you are ignorant, as you said.

Answer 8

Liberty, once lost, is lost forever.

Answer 9

We have lost the ability to have multiple disposable cellphones as a means to evade a wiretap warrant on a single cellphone number.

It makes all kinds of criminal activities much harder, but doesn't impact people who use the same cellphone for months at a time at all.

Answer 10

Since I'm not making or receiving international calls to terrorists, none. Since I'm not on the field of battle fighting amongst the ranks of terrorists, none.

But yeah, if I hated this country and wanted to see it torn down and rebuilt in someone else's image, then hell yeah, my rights have been violated.