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The US Patriot Act was signed into law by George W. Bush on October 26, 2001. The Act was a result of the attacks on September 11, 2001. Amongst the Patriot Act’s most important and most controversial parts are that it authorizes indefinite detention of immigrants, gives permission to law enforcement to search a home or business without the owner or occupant’s consent or knowledge and allows the FBI to search telephone, e-mail and financial records without a court order. Since becoming law in 2001, many provisions of the Patriot Act have been declared unconstitutional by Federal courts. In this video, John Ashcroft, who served as U.S. Attorney General under George W. Bush, is asked whether or not he believes the Patriot Act has achieved its goal of combating terrorism. He responds: “I believe that it was key to our successful defaulting or otherwise preventing terrorist acts against the United States. And we know that the Patriot Act, which in one respect allowed a new kind of cooperation between intelligence officials and law enforcement officials was very important in bringing to justice individuals who had serious plans to disrupt the safety and security, the liberty and freedom of citizens of the United States.”
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