The USA PATRIOT Act “was passed a mere six weeks after 9/11 [signed into law on October 26, 2001], without any meaningful deliberations or hearings. …In hundreds of provisions amending previous laws, the Patriot Act empowered [Bush] administration officials to spy on anyone, including Americans, with less basis for suspicion and less judicial review; it stretched and repurposed criminal laws by allowing prosecution for ‘material support’ of terrorism even if the person prosecuted did not have any intention of supporting terrorists; it exposed business records, including medical, educational, and library records, to easy capture by government agents in several different ways; and it expanded the reach of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, initially designed to keep track of Soviet spies, to more easily cover spying on Americans. Many of these provisions threatened privacy; the freedoms of speech, association, and religion; due process; and equality, but supporters declared that although this was unfortunate, it was necessary–we have to give up some of our rights in order to be safe.”
– Susan Herman, Taking Liberties, Pages 5-6