The Patriot Act is 20 years old today

The Week’s Bonnie Kristian writes, “Tuesday is the 20th anniversary of the Patriot Act, the sweeping authorization of invasive federal surveillance powers passed shortly after the 9/11 attacks of 2001. Congress should observe the two-decade mark by starting work to repeal the law in full.

Since 2001, the law has undergone some reform, chiefly through the USA Freedom Act and an expiration of powers in 2020. More needs to change: https://t.co/iF9psuWSHZ

— Bonnie Kristian (@bonniekristian) October 26, 2021

Much like the Iraq War in 2003, the Patriot Act began with lies. The George W. Bush administration claimed its changes would be ‘modest’ and ‘incremental,’ characterizing the law as a means of taking ‘existing legal principles and retrofitt[ing] them to preserve the lives and liberty of the American people from the challenges posed by a global terrorist network.’ As civil libertarians argued at the time and subsequent years have demonstrated ad nauseum — not least via the 2013 revelations of NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden — none of that was true.”

Read the entire column.