Patriot Act Pros And Cons

2259 Words10 Pages
The Acts as They Violate the Constitution of the United States While the Espionage Act and the Patriot Act contained different methods of combating those who were dangerous to the United States, those methods are similar in one very significant manner: they violate the basic principles stated in the Constitution of the United States. The first of these violations is that of the First Amendment to the Constitution, where it is stated that “Congress shall make no law…abridging the freedom of speech” (“First Amendment”). This statement clearly prohibits the government from restricting speech. However, both the Espionage Act and the Patriot Act contain sections that clearly restrict speech. For instance, the Sedition Act of 1918 contains sections to protect the government from speech that would harm it. The Act makes it a crime to “willfully utter, print, write or publish any disloyal, profane, scurrilous, or abusive language about the form of government of the United States or the Constitution of the United States” (“The Sedition Act of 1918”). The Act also adds a section to protect related branches of the government. It protects against harmful language concerning “the military or naval forces of the United States, or the flag of the United States, or the uniform of the Army or Navy of the United States” (“The Sedition Act of 1918”). The previous statements clearly restrict one’s right to the freedom of…show more content…
While the writers of the Sedition Act may have believed that they were protecting the government from speech that would create “dissent and anti-war activity”, it is restricting speech nonetheless, which is a

More about Patriot Act Pros And Cons

Open Document