Questions

For those of you who were not here on Wednesday, pick an area to look into and be prepared to discuss on Friday!

Group 1: Patriot act

Here’s a trail to follow. Look at the links below. They will take you from the Patriot Act legislation itself (1), to an outline of the sunset provisions, the reauthorizations of key provisions, and finally, an argument for and one against the Patriot Act.

Familiarize yourself with the content and be prepared to discuss the key elements that were recently reauthorized, your thoughts about the Patriot Act, and anything else you feel relevant.

An overview of the Patriot Act titles and sections. Focus on Title II.

Read the sketch of sunset provisions

Read 2005 authorization

Read most recent authorization and here.

Obama signs reauthorization

Patriot act debate will ramp up again next month

Find some pro and con arguments supporting the Patriot Act. After reading those and the above resources, plus any other information that you find, what's your opinion of the Patriot Act?


Group 2: Polls & Legislation

Take a look at this site. Scroll down to Polls and Surveys. Look at some of these polls.

Is this public concern for privacy leading to any legislation?

Read about the Commercial Privacy Bill of Rights Act of 2011.

Here's a more concise read and a video.

Find any other specifics that you can about this piece of legislation. Does this bill go far enough in protecting people’s privacy? What are some of the highlights?

Group 3: Take a look at Carnivore, Room 641A, and MalIntent.

Here's another description of MalIntent and here.

Find more background resources if necessary.

What was/is each?

Take a look at COINTELPRO. What was it? What were its goals? What happened to it?

Are these programs/surveillance technologies in the interest of national security or do they violate the rights of American citizens? Or, is it more complicated than that?