Speaker discusses Patriot Act violations

April 21, 2005
By Jennna Stevens
Staff Writer

The Patriot Act was put in place after the attacks of September 11, and is currently in the process of reevaluation and potential ratification.

The main purpose of the Patriot Act is to grant the government power to uncover terrorists by using personal records and files that would otherwise be confidential. The other half of this issue, however, is that this type of treatment can be used on any person living in the United States without his or her knowledge.

In light of the upcoming vote, Ed Yohnka, an ACLU staff member, came to campus to speak about the impact of the current act and the changes that need to be made to keep it from violating our constitutionally granted rights as citizens of the United States.

Yohnka discussed the effect of this act on the lives of college students by explaining that persons are no longer allowed the freedom of privacy to conduct personal business and it is an attempt by the government to keep individuals from speaking out against government actions they disagree with.

He argues that the impact of this act not only affects the things we do here at home but also the things our children will do in the future. Without ratification, the government can access your library records to see what types of information you have been researching, they can go through your financial history and find the purchases you have made and the private business deals you have conducted.

All of these actions will likely take place without your knowledge as they are not required to inform you of their investigation, but the fact that the federal government has investigated you will follow you into the future.

“The fundamental problem with the Patriot Act is that it makes everyone a suspect because it doesn’t require any evidence that you are a suspect before an investigation is conducted” Yohnka said. “We have a word for that and the word is un-American.”

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