Opponents of the Patriot Act say the law forces U.S. citizens to give up way too many personal freedoms and constitutional rights in exchange for any level of "safety" the law may provide.
They argue that policing powers granted under the Act and the proposed Domestic Security Enhancement Act (Patriot II) would fundamentally change American society, because the government would be allowed to carry out electronic searches of virtually all information available about an individual without having to show probable cause and without informing the individual that the investigation was being carried out.
Furthermore, if adopted it would allow the government to wiretap a person for 15 days without a warrant; federal agents could secretly arrest people and provide no information to their family, the media or their attorney until charges are brought, no matter how long that took; and it would allow Americans to be stripped of their citizenship for even unknowingly helping a group that is connected to an organization deemed to be terrrorist.
Even further, they say the Act would also make it a crime for people subpoenaed in connection with an investigation to alert Congress or anyone else to any possible abuses committed by federal agents. There is no checks-and-balances system to prevent abuses, they believe.
