Question 21

The fourth amendment to the US Constitution guarantees that citizens will be “secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures,” and it requires that a court issue a specific warrant based on “probable cause” before any search is allowed. In 1978, Congress passed and President Carter signed into law what has come to be known as the FISA Act, which authorizes physical and electronic surveillance of “foreign powers” and their agents (including American citizens) suspected o being engaged in espionage. FISA also gave the President authority to approve warrantless surveillance-that is, surveillance without a court order-for a period of one year under certain conditions. The provisions of FISA were reaffirmed shortly after 9/11, when Congress passed the “Patriot Act” with overwhelming bi-partisan support and President Bush signed it into law. The Bush administration subsequently expanded warrantless surveillance and the Obama administration has recommended that warrantless surveillance be further expanded to to cover Internet communications. In 2014 it came to light that the government has been monitoring all US citizens telephone conversations; collected all US citizens’ emails; and collected all US citizens’ email address books.

Develop a one to three paragraph argument in which you agree or disagree with the actions of the US government as outlined above.
You must provide examples to support your argument; don’t use generalities but be very specific with your examples.
Most of your examples will probably concentrate on the possible consequences of either supporting or not supporting the government’s actions outlined above.
You might want to briefly research one or two articles concerning this matter on the internet to give you a basis for your argument.

The format of your response should look something like the following example:

State your opinion fully referring to the specific actions the government has taken
Premise #1 (example or consequence)
Fully explain the example or consequence as it relates to the issue.
Premise #2 (example or consequence)
Fully explain the example or consequence as it relates to the issue
Premise #3 (example or consequence)
Fully explain the example or consequence as it relates to the issue
Premise #4 (example or consequence)
Fully explain the example or consequence as it relates to the issue Two premises and explanations minimum; four maximum.