Key sections of the bill expired on June 1
On Monday, June 1, 2015, at precisely midnight, Section 215 of the USA PATRIOT Act officially expired. Though efforts were made by its political supporters to ensure its survival, the controversial bill failed to pass every extension process in its time in the 114th United States Congress.
In addition to Section 215, which provided American intelligence agencies with unprecedented access to both the public and private records of any individuals suspected of having ties to terrorist organizations, the so-called “lone wolf” and “roving wiretap” provisions also expired on June 1.
The 107th United States Congress passed the bill in the wake of the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, and the legislation provided increased surveillance allowances to major American intelligence agencies.
The “lone wolf” provision, more accurately referred to as Section 6001 of the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Provisions Act of 2004, allowed governmental agencies to redefine the category of individuals who could legally be surveyed. Instead of terrorists being defined by their links to terrorist groups, the newly introduced distinction of “lone wolf” allowed intelligence agencies to target individuals with no links to any known groups, but who were still suspected of intending to cause acts of terror.
The “roving wiretap” provision, or Section 206 of the USA PATRIOT Act, allowed intelligence agencies to actively monitor any form of communication used by an individual suspected of having connections to a terrorist organization, or a so-called lone wolf.
All three sections afforded intelligence agencies like the American Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and National Security Agency (NSA) the unprecedented power to actively launch surveillance against an incredibly broad category of U.S. citizens and non-citizens alike.
The Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001 (USA PATRIOT Act), was signed into law by former President George W. Bush on Oct. 26, 2001. At the time, the act was seen as America’s first legal reaction to the horrifying attacks on the Twin Towers just one month earlier. The bill was intended to protect America from any further acts of terror.
Even in its early days, however, the act was not without its critics. Citizens, politicians, and members of the press alike objected that the act was an overreaction that would do little to deter acts of terror. Instead, many claimed that the USA PATRIOT Act would only allow intelligence agencies to access more information that, while plentiful, would simultaneously fail to prevent acts of terrorism. Much criticism was levied at the act for failing to accurately define its broad definitions.
In spite of the objections levied by the detractors of the piece of legislation, several provisions and amendments were made to ensure the act’s sustainment. On May 26, 2011, current President Barack Obama signed a four-year extension, the PATRIOT Sunsets Extension Act of 2011, for two key provisions and one amendment to the original act: the roving wiretaps and lone wolves provisions, and a provision that enabled the search of business records.
In recent years, criticism has also been levied at both the American government for their participation in the cloak-and-dagger nature afforded by the act, as well as the NSA for their efforts in bypassing legal restrictions to continue collecting data.
Whistleblowers like Julian Assange and Edward Snowden revealed that the NSA was not only overstepping the boundaries laid out by the original act, and its amended provisions, but that agencies like the FBI and CIA were further failing to provide probable cause for their accusations regarding so-called terrorists.
America’s executive branch has also come under fire for their manipulation of the USA PATRIOT Act as an excuse to conduct illegal drone warfare, as well as to carry out unauthorized military intervention against nations currently listed as American enemies.
Though the expiry of the USA PATRIOT Act signals the end of a divisive time in the American political landscape, as of June 2, 2015, the USA FREEDOM Act officially reinstated the three expired provisions. The USA FREEDOM Act was passed by President Obama.