Learning Activity

Aired, September 8, 2003

Attorney General John Ashcroft defends the U.S.A. Patriot Act amidst criticism from the ACLU that the measure violates civil liberties. Ashcroft says that the anti-terrorism measure passed by Congress after the September 11 attacks has been key to the nation's efforts to thwart attacks against Americans. Investigate the legal issues arising from the U.S.A. Patriot Act.

Direct to students to Holt, Rinehart and Winston's "Bill of Rights" research page (http://go.hrw.com/hrw.nd/arbiter/pRedirect?project=hrwonline&siteId=457&pageId=3010) to review the Bill of Rights and to find the civil liberties protected by this document. Ask: What are "civil liberties"? What civil liberties are outlined in the U.S. Bill of Rights? Why are these liberties important?

After the discussion, ask students: Which section of the Patriot Act allows the government to more easily access records from various sources without a patron's knowledge? Refer student groups to multimedia resources to learn more about the U.S.A. Patriot Act, specifically section 215. Have groups identify when the law was enacted, why it is controversial and what some of the grounds are for several of the major lawsuits filed against this law. After groups share their findings, ask: Do you think the U.S.A. Patriot Act sacrifices civil liberties for the sake of security? If so, to what extent? If not, why not? Do you think the provisions of the Patriot Act are necessary or too far-reaching? Discuss.

Extention:

Group students and assign each group a time period between 1798 and the present. Direct groups to their textbooks and other resources to identify examples of national security legislation that may have had an effect on civil liberties. Have groups research the history and circumstances surrounding these legislative actions. Following each presentation, ask: Did the legislative action achieve its goal? Why or why not? What civil liberties were in question? Do you think this legislation was necessary? State your rationale.

Correlated Standards

National Standards for Civics and Government

I. WHAT ARE CIVIC LIFE, POLITICS, AND GOVERNMENT?

A. What is civic life? What is politics? What is government? Why are government and politics necessary? What purposes should government serve?

3. The purposes of politics and government. Students should be able to evaluate, take, and defend positions on competing ideas regarding the purposes of politics and government and their implications for the individual and society

To achieve this standard, students should be able to:

• explain competing ideas about the purposes of politics and government, e.g., promoting individual security and public order, protecting individual rights, promoting the common good, providing for a nation's security

• describe historical and contemporary examples of governments which serve these purposes

• explain how the purposes served by a government affect relationships between the individual and government and between government and society as a whole

V. WHAT ARE THE ROLES OF THE CITIZEN IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY?

B. What are the rights of citizens?

1. Personal rights. Students should be able to evaluate, take, and defend positions on issues regarding personal rights. To achieve this standard, students should be able to evaluate contemporary issues that involve the question of personal rights

The National Standards for Civics and Government (http://www.civiced.org/912erica.htm) are published by the Center for Civic Education (http://www.civiced.org/index.html)

Related Links

CNN.com: Ashcroft kicks off campaign to defend Patriot Act (http://www.cnn.com/2003/LAW/08/19/ashcroft.patriot.act/index.html)

CNN.com: ACLU files lawsuit against Patriot Act (http://www.cnn.com/2003/LAW/07/30/patriot.act/index.html)

Holt, Rinehart and Winston: American Government - The Bill of Rights (http://go.hrw.com/hrw.nd/arbiter/pRedirect?project=hrwonline&siteId=457&pageId=3010)

ACLU: USA PATRIOT Act (http://www.aclu.org/SafeandFree/SafeandFree.cfm?ID=12126&c=207)

White House: Department of Homeland Security (http://www.whitehouse.gov/homeland/)

Background - The Patriot Acts In A Nutshell (http://civilliberty.about.com/library/content/blPatriotAct.htm)

Analysis of Patriot Act I by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (http://www.eff.org/Privacy/Surveillance/Terrorism_militias/20011031_eff_usa_patriot_analysis.php)

Keywords

Bill of Rights, civil liberties, U.S.A. Patriot Act, ACLU, homeland security, John Ashcroft