American Government
and Organization
PS1301
Wednesday, 3 December
Quiz
What is the Patriot Act?
Policy Responses to 9/11
National Security



Joint resolution on 14 Sept. ‘to use all necessary and
appropriate force against nations…that he determines
planned…the terrorist attacks”
Patriot Act (October 2001)
Department of Homeland Security
Economic

Airline relief bill (October 2001)
Military Response


Invasion of Afghanistan
War in Iraq
Other policy options not adopted or
abandoned:
TIPS – Terror Information and Prevention
System (govt./private sector workers
‘spies’) see www.citizencorps.gov
Terror Futures Market

Traders could buy and sell futures contracts
based on their predictions about what would
happen in the region.
Racial profiling at airports
Patriot Act Summary
Enhances executive branch’s power to
conduct surveillance, search for money
laundering, share intelligence with criminal
prosecutors and charge/detain suspected
terrorists with crimes.
Patriot Act Provisions
Relaxes restrictions on information sharing between U.S. law
enforcement and intelligence officers about suspected terrorists.
Makes it illegal to knowingly harbor a terrorist
Authorizes "roving wiretaps,"
Allows the federal government to detain non-U.S. citizens suspected
of terrorism for up to seven days without specific charges.
Allows law enforcement officials greater subpoena power for e-mail
records of terrorist suspects.
Triples the number of Border Patrol, Customs Service Inspectors
and Immigration and Naturalization Service inspectors
Expands measures against money laundering
Eliminates the statute of limitations for prosecuting the most
egregious terrorist acts
Patriot Act – Threat to Civil
Liberties
Change in protections from unreasonable
search and seizure
Detention of non-citizens, immigrants
Racial profiling
Re-emergence of Patriot Act on the
Agenda – end of August 2003
A report on Tuesday's deadly attack at the
U.N. headquarters in Baghdad that left a
reported 20 people dead
Ashcroft defends patriot act – see video
clip
Video
Weighing the Patriot Act: Background
Weighing the Patriot Act: Discussion


The Newshour with Jim Lehrer [PBS]
August 19, 2003
CBS News/New York Times Poll. Nov. 20-24, 2002. N=996 adults
nationwide. MoE ± 3 (total sample).
.
"Which concerns you more right now -- that the government will
fail to enact strong anti-terrorism laws, or that the government
will enact new anti-terrorism laws which excessively restrict the
average person's civil liberties?"
ALL
Republicans
%
%
%
%
Fail to enact strong
laws
40
53
29
40
Excessively restrict
liberties
44
29
59
43
Both (vol.)
2
3
1
2
Neither (vol.)
3
5
1
3
Don't know
11
10
10
12
.
Demo- Indepencrats
dents
Civil Liberties vs. National Security
Selected post 9/11 court rulings
Rights of Enemy Combatants


Al Odah v. United States (March 2003
D.C. Circuit Court “aliens detained outside the
sovereign territory of the U.S.’ do not enjoy
constitutional protections
Hamdi v. Rumsfeld (july 2002)
U.S. citizen arrested in Afghanistan
Sought access to lawyer, 4th circuit, overturned
previous ruling denying right
Other post 9/11 decisions
Closed Hearings


North Jersey Media Group Inc. v. Ashcroft Oct. 2002)
Defer to AG [3rd district court]
Detroit Free Press v. Ashcroft
6th circuit court, rejected blanket closure, must decide
on case by case basis