When the Country is in a state of distress the historical precedent for government conduct, such as that of the Patriot Act, cannot be doubted. Our founders, and Constitution, are perplexed on the subject of security vs. freedom. Respectable and virtuous men such as Abraham Lincoln staunchly justify force when necessary, regardless of the public's skepticism. Although the practices may be questionable at times, in many cases the facts are distorted and exaggerated. Within weeks of the terrorist attacks, Congress passed and President George W. Bush signed the Patriot Act into law, giving law enforcement and intelligence authorities unprecedented domestic authority which enabled authority to thwart plots against the United States. The…show more content… Because critics are incapable of providing a single example of the Patriot Act being misemployed, they fabricate disturbing, unjustified accusations that the Patriot Act is an infringement of the First Amendment. One aspect that those opposed to the Act primarily criticize is the business records provision, which they claim gives law enforcement complete freedom to scrutinize U.S. citizens reading routines at libraries as well as bookstores. This claim is fallacious and intended to scandalize citizens. Library records have invariably been obtainable to grand jury subpoenas in conventional criminal investigations. Another stipulation that has caused unease is the "delayed notice" search warrant, which is neither recent nor atypical. It merely enables law enforcement to defer advising an individual of a judicially authorized search for an equitable amount of time so that an ongoing investigation will not be jeopardized. For several years, the Supreme Court and other courts have deemed these search warrants as being constitutional and pertinent in cases related to drug dealing and organized crime. Delayed notice of search warrants is critical in the terrorism fight. Without the ability to do delayed notice search warrants many investigations would suffer and terrorists would
