The+Patriot+Act+(USA)

The USA PATRIOT Act is a U.S. federal law which is supposed to give federal authorities increased abilities to combat international or domestic terrorism. The name of the act stands for: "**U**niting and **S**trengthening **A**merica by **P**roviding **A**ppropriate **T**ools **R**equired to **I**ntercept and **O**bstruct **T**errorists". The act was propositioned soon after the terrorist attacks on World Trade Center and Pentagon on the 11th of September 2001, and was passed with little opposition. The USA PATRIOT Act's function is to further empower federal law-enforcement and intelligence-gathering when dealing with terror crimes, but some parts of the bill also apply to criminal acts generally. The number of offenses related to terrorism was increased, and reporting requirements, crimes and penalties associated with money laundering were expanded.

Civil libertarians and others have protested heavily against changes made by the act that they feel are unconstitutional and that may lead to law-enforcement abuse. The changes referred to include reduced judicial oversight of wiretaps, greater law-enforcement access to records held by third-party businesses and organizations and a very broadened definition of providing material support to terrorists. The latter definition can be ambiguous. Part of the protests may have occured because the USA PATRIOT Act reduces restrictions that were decided in response to incidents of governmental power abusement.

Sources: Infoplease //USA PATRIOT Act// URL: [] [Access date: 05-11-2010]