Argumentative Research Paper on American Freedoms

Argumentative Research Paper on American Freedoms
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The terrorist attack on 9/11 prompted the US Congress to establish a legal document that entailed surveillance provisions-the Patriot Act. The law allows government agencies such as the NSA to spy on American citizens’ activities. The government agencies closely monitor citizens’ internet searches and activities such as travel patterns, library use, telephone communication, medical records, bookstore purchases and other financial records. The Guardian revealed NSA’s PRISM program that allows access to internet-based information and the Foreign Intelligence Court order that required Verizon a telecommunications company to provide phone records (American Civil Liberties Union n.p.). Edward Snowden exposed the NSA for obtaining metadata that included email addresses and phone numbers using them to mine for leads in counterterrorism investigations (Kelly 7). Other leaked information revealed NSA’s access to not only domestic, but also international telecommunication information (Staff n.p.). Enforcement of these surveillance measures impinges on Americans’ freedoms.
Monitoring citizens is very invasive and using metadata and PRISM to track citizens’ patterns reveals extremely private information and is in violation of American freedoms. The government uses metadata and PRISM programs to obtain personal information such as one’s sexual orientation based on the choice of friends. The programs may also reveal other information such as places of work and events that one attends including political ones, and one’s popular holiday locations and restaurants. Furthermore, the government collects domestic information of millions of Americans that are innocent instead of collecting information about foreigners who pose the real terrorism threats to the country’s security (Wolf n.p.).
Surveillance on internet searches and activity impedes on previously held citizen’s rights to protection as well as on the judiciary’s powers. The measures as provided for in the Patriot Act do not require investigating agencies to present evidence that categorizes a subject as an agent of foreign power. It increases vulnerability for Americans because they are unprotected from abuse by the investigating authorities. The government also limits its citizen’s legal right to challenge illegitimate searches because the persons forced to provide information are prohibited from disclosing information about the search to the affected parties. The judiciary is also limited in its power to exercise oversight because it is prohibited from rejecting an application for required searches (American Civil Liberties Union n.p).
Surveillance of internet searches and other activities are also in violation of several legal provisions. It violates the Fourth Amendment that postulates that investigative agencies must obtain mandatory search warrants before undertaking searches (American Civil Liberties Union n.p.). For example, the Patriot Act allows its agencies to use internet aggregates to collect personal information from one’s website activity. Traditionally, agencies collecting such information may require a search warrant failure to which they would be guilty of trespass and invasion of privacy (Andrews 708).
The agencies also do not provide sufficient grounds that the subject of the search either is a criminal or meets the threshold for committing a crime. Secrecy that prohibits those giving information to government agencies even when insufficient rounds for secrecy exists also violates the existing legal provisions on free speech. The Patriot act overrides the freedom of speech provisions on the 1st amendment, which would allow recipients of search orders to share the information with concerned parties. The FBI also has the power to initiate investigations against a person that exercises personal freedom of speech and this violates the First Amendment. It also does not also issue notices as provided for in the Fourth Amendment and guaranteed in the Fifth Amendment (American Civil Liberties Union n.p.).
Surveillance also has a negative impact on the writers’ fraternity and this impedes on their creativity and freedom of expression and information. A report by PEN indicated that the surveillance activities are a source of worry for eighty five percent of American writers. This has resulted in their self-censorship strategies on issues such as the government’s military activities, study of particular languages and the Middle East and North Africa affairs. They make deliberate decisions to avoid social media conversations, telephone conversations, internet searches, writing and meeting persons considered to be linked to terrorism. Everything that a person posts on any social network or websites is analyzed and a virtual profile that can be monetized is created (Andrews 710). Surveillance has therefore had significant negative impact on writer’s ability to exercise their freedom of expression and in limits unrestricted flow of information (PEN-international n.p.).
Surveillance of the internet and other activity also threatens confidentiality in the law profession where the duty of confidentiality is paramount. Attorneys are now facing challenges in terms of using cloud computing in their communication with their clients. Attorneys working with terrorism suspects are particularly concerned about how the NSA surveillance compromises their duty to uphold confidentiality (Lerner, Frank and Lee 7). This is because the NSA can access client correspondence that attorneys store in servers that are subject to surveillance. The NSA accesses such data without issuing notices to the concerned parties. It also affects lawyers dealing with international clients on issues that regard national security. The surveillance measures inflict the additional burden of relying on traditional communication methods in communication with clients abroad as way of adhering to lawyers’ duty of confidentiality. Lawyers recognize that encryption of their internet communication is not sufficient protection from NSA surveillance. It is therefore very important that they reevaluate their use of the internet for communication and how it impacts on their duty of confidentiality to their clients (Lerner, Frank and Lee).
The American society is traditionally founded on the frameworks of civil liberties that promote free thought about all spheres of life including politics. The civil liberties framework nurtures citizens’ ability to develop some of the best ideas without influences of intense scrutiny and influence (Richards 1947). Surveillance also breaches the public’s right to confidentiality which is crucial in guaranteeing unrestricted flow of information in libraries. The American Library Association (ALA) indicates that that the surveillance laws undermine the provision of library services and by the same virtue, democracy. The surveillance laws restrict free information flow through library systems. This is because more library users refrain from using information in some controversial research resources for fear of such action landing them in trouble with the governments’ investigative agencies. This threatens the freedom of reading, exchange of intellectual knowledge, free thought privacy and free association. Enforcing court orders on libraries to divulge users’ search patterns endangers users’ constitutional rights to privacy and freedom to read (Americal Library Association n.p.).
The law governing surveillance of internet searches and other activity was passed through a rushed process. This provided insufficient time for Congress members’ interpretation. The law is also ineffective in alleviating terrorism because the government is inadequately engaged in actual planning of how to mitigate future terrorism Instead, the government focuses on increasing surveillance on innocent law abiding citizens. Under the surveillance laws, the American government also propagates racist policies. For instance, it directly targets Arab American citizens making them vulnerable to screening and deportation and they also constitute majority of prisoners in Guantanamo Bay. For example, the a...