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Opinion Statement The Patriot Act

I believe that a person should have to sacrifice only some of their civil rights in order to help fight a war if the war is worth fighting for and many of our fellow friends will die if we don't. Taking away someones civil rights in a time of war is completely contradictory to what America is supposed to stand for but it will help in what we all see is the best outcome, the one where the minimum amount of lives are lost. However, basic civil rights should be protected and given regardless of whether or not a country is at war with another. The rights of life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness and any right similar are the rights in which we should be entitled to always. If our most basic rights are being violated too far and allows for the government to extensively look in our private lives and release information that would not benefit the person involved if they are not affiliated with a terrorist group, then giving up our civil rights isn't the correct action. Sacrificing some civil rights is something that should be condoned only when it is absolutely necessary. Taking away a persons civil rights attacks the definition of what living in the United States of America is all about but is still inevitable if we want to keep all people in this country safe. With the war on terror, the sacrifice of some of our civil rights will allow us to fight against all attacks on America. The surrender of all our civil rights breaks down the essence of being American. Additionally, our constitutional rights are being violated if we are required to give up our all of our civil rights to the government in a time of war. If every one of our civil rights were surrendered, people could be followed to their place of worship (1st Amendment),

prevented from access to a lawyer to defend them (6th Amendment), and held without a trial (7th Amendment). Only certain ones can be given up for a certain time but some must always be there and never even be considered for sacrifice. However, who will ensure that abuse of this situation from our government would not occur? This War on Terror has no certain end, years after it has started. Unlike traditional country vs. country wars, which eventually end in a cease fire, a peace treaty signing, or one country taking over another, this War on Terror is not against any particular country and is something that could essentially go on forever. Since this is the case, if all of our civil rights are to be given up to help fight this seemingly endless War on Terror, they may be gone forever if our government chose to abuse this power and set no end date to when we will gain those rights back. The information that would be gathered, if we surrendered all of our civil rights, could be used in other situations which are harmful to our country as a whole. In addition, it may lead to racial profiling and discrimination. This treatment and abuse is uncalled for and must never happen. That's why we should be entitled to give up what rights, it is only temporary no matter what with a concrete date in sight, have the government never release information on things that do not apply to the "War on Terror", and never discriminate. Surrendering all of our civil rights for an indefinite amount of time is an absurd idea and would result in many negative things but surrendering only what needs to be surrendered for the time being may be the answer. What this country was built on were the three unalienable rights, life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Those rights should never be given up and should never be contested to be given up in any situation. Some rights can be sacrificed but it can never be

permanent in any case. Civil rights could be abused, the government could use information gathered in improper methods, and racial profiling or other forms of discrimination could be encouraged; that is not acceptable. Sacrificing our civil rights to help in war time has merit only if we do it wisely in a manner in which everyone will understand why we do it, how long we will, and who it will affect.

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