The Impact of Terrorism and Cyber Crime on the Fourth Amendment

The Fourth Amendment of the Constitution guards Americans against unlawful search and seizure. It entails that there be a judicially sanctioned warrant with probable cause and limited scope and is in direct correlation to the Writ of Assistance circa the American Revolution. Writs placed British soldiers above the law, allowing any person or place to be subject to search without reason or accountability.

In seemingly direct opposition to the Bill of Rights, the Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act (with the contrived antonym USA Patriot Act) was placed into action 26 October 2001. The law was placed into action in response to the terrorist attacks of 11 September of the same year. Though passed by wide margins in both houses of Congress, the act met with huge public dissent for being too broad in its application and its interference with civil liberties. Without the permission or knowledge of the owner or occupant or court order, law enforcement agencies may search the email communications, telephone, medical, or financial records, of a suspected terrorist as well as their home or business. It also allows for indefinite detention of immigrants. This act was scheduled to sunset four years after its inception at the end of 2005, but was revised and reauthorized. The USA Patriot Act overrode many laws, including the Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986. The ECPA was enacted to extend the government restrictions on wiretaps to include communications via the computer and required for search warrants for both correspondence and storage.

Though cyber crime could have opened the floodgates for government invasion, it did not. The government acted with restraint and respect for the American public. Terrorism was the catalyst Patriot Act, but the result was unjustifiable. The USA Patriot Act was a measure to rectify previous federal neglect. Other laws of this type have previously been abolished. The USA Patriot Act just the Writ of Assistance of the new millennium.