USA Patriot Act The "Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism" Act, was signed into law by President George W. Bush on October 26, 2001. The stated purpose of the law is to "deter and punish terrorist acts in the United States and around the world, to enhance law enforcement investigatory tools, and for other purposes." Text of the USA Patriot Act

USA Patriot Act II A Justice Department draft of a proposed addition to the USA Patriot Act, the Domestic Security Enhancement Act of 2003, was obtained by the Center for Public Integrity. This proposed act will give "the government broad, sweeping new powers to increase domestic intelligence-gathering, surveillance and law enforcement prerogatives, and simultaneously decrease judicial review and public access to information." Domestic Security Enhancement Act of 2003 (draft)

Interpretations & Analysis

• American Bar Association - Individual Rights & Responsibilities
• American Civil Liberties Union - Insatiable Appetite: The Government's Demand for New and Unnecessary Powers After September 11
• Bill of Rights Defense Committee - The Homeland Security Act: The Decline of Privacy; the Rise of Government Secrecy
• Cato Institute - Breaking the Vicious Cycle Preserving Our Liberties While Fighting Terrorism
• Center for Constitutional Rights - The State of Civil Liberities: One Year Later
• Center for National Security Studies - CNSS et al v. DOJ
• Center for Public Integrity - Justice Dept. Drafts Sweeping Expansion of Anti-Terrorism Act (USA Patriot Act II)
• Congressional Research Service - Terrorism: Section by Section Analysis of the USA PATRIOT Act
• Congressional Research Service - The USA PATRIOT Act: A Sketch
• Electronic Frontier Foundation - EFF Analysis Of The Provisions Of The USA PATRIOT Act
• Free Expression Network - USA Patriot Act Page
• Rutherford Institute - Forfeiting "Enduring Freedom" for "Homeland Security"

USA Patriot Act: Government Documents

• Report to Congress on Implementation of Section 1001 of the USA Patriot Act. Justice Department Report, 22 January 2003.
• Patriot Act Oversigth: Investigating Patterns of Terrorist Financing. congressional Hearing, 12 February 2002.
• Terrorist Financing: Implementation of the USA Patriot Act. Congressional Hearing, 19 September 2002.
• Provide Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism (PATRIOT) Act of 2001. Congressional Report, 11 October 2001.

Finding Additional Information

• Alt-Press Watch
  Full-text database to the alternative and independent press.
• CQ.Com
  Legislative tracking and Capitol Hill news service from Congressional Quarterly.
• Expanded Academic Index
  Interdisciplinary index to popular and scholarly publications, some full-text included.
• Left Index
  Index to leftist & radical media, includes links to some full-text.
• LegalTrac
  Index to 800 law journals and legal newsletters.
• Lexis Nexis Academic Universe
  Full-text database to hundreds of newspapers, also strong coverage of law journals, legal opinions and business information.
• National Newspapers
  Full-text database to major U.S. newspapers.
• PAIS
  Index to public policy journals and reports.

This site was created to accompany panel discussion by faculty and librarians on dangers the Patriot Act poses to the American democratic experiment offered as part of the University of Washington's event, Time of Reflection: The War in Iraq.

Initial quote attributed to Benjamin Franklin.

University of Washington Libraries © 2003