Uses For The Patriot Act

The Patriot Act: Kitchen-sink approach to national security.

Before 9/11, when politicians spoke of “patriots,” they usually meant soldiers. Now prosecutors and the FBI were reaching for the same vanity—that they were the hard tip of freedom—and the same license to pursue enemies without much oversight or meddling. When it was signed into law six weeks after the attacks, the act made it easier to wiretap American citizens suspected of cooperating with terrorism, to snoop through business records without notification, and to execute search warrants without immediately informing their targets. Privileges once reserved for overseas intelligence work were extended to domestic criminal investigations. There was less judicial oversight and very little transparency.

Here's how the Patriot Act has actually been used:

• For drugs: 1,618 times
• For fraud: 122 times
• For terrorism: 15 times