The USA PATRIOT Act: A Legal Analysis (CRS Report for Congress)
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| Release Date |
April 15, 2002 |
| Report Number |
RL31377 |
| Report Type |
Report |
| Authors |
Charles Doyle, American Law Division |
| Source Agency |
Congressional Research Service |
Summary:
The USA PATRIOT Act passed in the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks. It flows from
a
consultation draft circulated by the Department of Justice, to which Congress made substantial
modifications and additions. The stated purpose of the Act is to enable law enforcement officials
to track down and punish those responsible for the attacks and to protect against any similar attacks.
The Act grants federal officials greater powers to trace and intercept terrorists' communications
both for law enforcement and foreign intelligence purposes. It reenforces federal anti-money
laundering laws and regulations in an effort to deny terrorists the resources necessary for future
attacks. It tightens our immigration laws to close our borders to foreign terrorists and to expel those
among us. Finally, it creates a few new federal crimes, such as the one outlawing terrorists' attacks
on mass transit; increases the penalties for many others; and institutes several procedural changes,
such as a longer statute of limitations for crimes of terrorism.
Critics have suggested that it may go too far. The authority to monitor e-mail traffic, to share
grand jury information with intelligence and immigration officers, to confiscate property, and to
impose new book-keeping requirements on financial institutions, are among the features troubling
to some.
The Act itself responds to some of these reservations. Many of the wiretapping and foreign
intelligence amendments sunset on December 31, 2005. The Act creates judicial safeguards for
e-mail monitoring and grand jury disclosures; recognizes innocent owner defenses to forfeiture; and
entrusts enhanced anti-money laundering powers to those regulatory authorities whose concerns
include the well being of our financial institutions.
This report, stripped of its citations and footnotes, is available in an abbreviated form as CRS Report RS21203(pdf) , The USA PATRIOT Act: A Sketch . In addition, much of the
information contained
here may also be found under a different arrangement in CRS Report RL31200(pdf) , Terrorism:
Section
by Section Analysis of the USA PATRIOT Act . A wider array of terrorism-related analysis
appears
on the CRS terrorism electronic briefing book page.
