On September 11, 2001, the terrorist group Al-Qaeda perpetrated a series of attacks against the United States. This group crashed two planes into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York and a third plane into the Pentagon just outside Washington, DC. The fourth plane crashed in a field in Pennsylvania as those on board attempted to regain control. Nearly 3,000 people died as a result. As fear spread among the population, the American government rushed to institute new legislation that would address the problems plaguing the nation. On October 26, 2001, the Bush administration passed the USA PATRIOT (Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism) Act, commonly referred to simply as the “Patriot Act.” Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay With the advancement of technology brings a myriad of new positive changes in our society; however, it can also be exploited for more heinous purposes. Terrorism, due to these technological advances, has become increasingly difficult to prevent and investigate. Before the attacks of September 11, 2001, the United States had not sufficiently updated legislation to combat terrorism that might employ the technology. For example, technology allows for easy communication between people within a country and even abroad. Although it can be perpetrated in a single location, terrorism can be planned in multiple areas. Law enforcement should obtain more warrants wherever terrorist crimes were perpetrated. Now, under the Patriot Act, law enforcement can obtain a warrant in any of the districts where a terrorist crime was committed, even if they do not execute it in that same district. The Patriot Act also updates the law regarding technology by providing law enforcement with greater capabilities to assist victims of hacking. If an individual were the victim of a burglary, they could invite law enforcement to their property to obtain evidence, thus being able to ultimately make an arrest. The Patriot Act treats those who violate borders electronically the same as those who do so physically. This means that victims of hacking can give law enforcement access to their computer. Changes like these have helped drive ease and efficiency in achieving national security. Law enforcement no longer has to boringly investigate and arrest terrorists; the law helps create quicker passage for law enforcement, ensuring our nation's safety from terrorist threats or attacks. In pursuing the investigation and prosecution of organized crime and drug trafficking, law enforcement had certain capabilities to assist them. Before the passage of the Patriot Act, these powers, used constitutionally for decades, were not available to terrorism investigators. Now, those powers have been extended to terrorism investigators. One of these powers is “reasonable delay” in the service of search warrants. This means that, under certain circumstances, law enforcement may delay notifying the subject of the execution of a search warrant. This prevents criminals from receiving a tip and taking actions to prevent law enforcement from prosecuting them: fleeing, destroying evidence, etc. Another power that the Patriot Act gives terrorism investigators is that they can now receive a tribunal. to obtain company documents in cases of.
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