Public Rights and Privacy

The United States Constitution: Amendment IV

'The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation,and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the person or things to be siezed'.

The United States Constitution: Article I, Section 8, in part

'The privilege of the writ of habeus corpus shall not be suspended,unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public safety may require it'.

The USA PATRIOT ACT has been a cause of uproar in the United States since 2001 when it was passed. Violations of the rights of citizens has been the primary concern regarding this Act for Conservatives and Liberals alike. The big question and concern for me is: Does the USA PATRIOT ACT contradict the U.S. Constitution, or does it only specify what has already been written in the Constitution?

The USA PATRIOT ACT gives the U.S. government the power to intercept communications in cases of computer fraud and abuse offences,authority to share criminal investigative information(this means that if any investigative or law enforcement officer, or attorney for the Government has intercepted any type of communication, he has the authority to disclose the information to any government agency he chooses as long as it is not forbidden by his official duties), seizure of voice-mail messages persuant to warrants,...

And also...

Authority for delaying notice of the execution of a warrant, trade sanctions (regarding things 'used to facilitate the design, development, or production of chemical or biological weapons, missiles, or weapons of mass destruction',...

It seems to me that most of the authorities granted in the USA PATRIOT ACT are in alignment with the Constitution, and only narrow the Constitution down to various scenarios. However, some allowances are questionable, such as the authority for delaying notice of the execution of a warrant, and trade sanctions. In the next few weeks, I intend to cross-reference the United States Code, U.S. Constitution, and the USA PATRIOT ACT to find out whether there are contradictions between these areas of the USA PATRIOT ACT and the U.S. Constitution. Do some research for yourself, and I'll come back to this subject in a couple weeks!