There is opposition to this act, though. The most notable is the civil rights group American Civil Liberty Union. They state that this act violates numerous rights like the first and fourth amendment. They say that the “sneak and peak” warrants granted by Section 213 of the USA PATRIOT violate the fourth amendment that guarantees freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures. In addition, they state that the delay notification of warrants granted by Section 213 will become the normal and not the exception*. There have been some state and local government opposition who have passed “symbolic” protests against the Act, not cooperating with government officials, and some have gone has far has officially declaring opposition to the act.
Most if not all opposition agree on at least one section that they say is troublesome: Section 215. Section 215, “Access to Records and Other Items under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act”, grants the Federal Bureau of Investigation access (provided with permission from the Foreign Intelligence Courts) to:
…tangible things (including books, records, papers, documents, and other items) for an investigation to protect against international terrorism or clandestine intelligence activities, provided that such investigation of a United States person is not conducted solely upon the basis of activities protected by the first amendment to the Constitution. (115. STAT 287 of the USA PATRIOT Act)
These items do not have to be connected with a person under an investigation but they can be sought because of an investigation to protect the United States from terrorism and other intelligence activities. In addition, a person who has been “served” cannot tell anybody else because of a gag order written into Section 215 in order to protect the investigation. The American Civil Liberty Union argues that this section violates the Fourth Amendment because it allows searchers and seizers of your items with out probable cause or with out a warrant. They also argue that this and the PATRIOT Act itself can lead to potential abuse. The United States government counter argues that this section is necessary because it allows their agents to monitor and track any potential terrorist and prevent them from doing other terrorist attacks on the United States soil or to any of its citizens.
