One provision allows for intelligence officials to conduct roving wiretaps, enabling surveillance of suspected terrorists’ communication devices.

Another grants government access to business records in cases involving espionage, foreign intelligence or terrorism. The final provision gives the government the power to pursue a “lone wolf,” or suspected terrorist not affiliated with any terrorist organization.

The Patriot Act was passed in October 2001 after the Sept. 11 terrorists attacks and included sunset provisions that were set to expire after varying intervals of time. Many of these provisions were reauthorized in 2006. But three of these provisions were to expire this year.

The renewal of the provisions was something about which a number of both Democratic and Republican senators and representatives were concerned, said MSU School of Criminal Justice Academic Specialist Phil Schertzing.

But U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Brighton, who represents a district that includes East Lansing and MSU and also is chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, believes the extension of the provisions was necessary. Al Qaida affiliates around the world continue to plot to kill Americans every day, Rogers said in an email.

“The U.S. is at war with a different type of enemy than it has ever faced in the past,” he said in the email. “The provisions, while providing for due process, are necessary for law enforcement and the professionals in the U.S. intelligence community to have the tools necessary to fight and win against the new and dangerous threat.”

Finance sophomore Allison Mancini said the Patriot Act is needed until any type of threat to the nation is gone — and that time is not now. This is legislation that America likely will need in place for the foreseeable future, she said.

“There’s always going to be people that are going to want to attack us for our freedom,” Mancini said.

Some citizens feared the renewal of these provisions. They worried the government would use the law to investigate people who simply disagree with the policy of the administration and aren’t really terrorists, Schertzing said.

“No one is in favor of protecting terrorists, but there’s fear the government could use (the act against) the people that are very conservative on the right or very liberal on the left,” he said. “(There are) worries that it will violate freedom of speech and freedom of expression.”

But there are congressional committees and federal courts that provide oversight to ensure the protection of citizens’ civil liberties, Schertzing said.

Rogers said the act allows law enforcement and intelligence services to share information that helps keep families safe.
“The Patriot Act is one of the most misunderstood bills that I have ever seen,” he said.