|
|
Article: Patriot Act, United States
- Article from:
- Encyclopedia of Espionage, Intelligence, andSecurity
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2004 The Gale Group Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
Patriot Act, United States
The Patriot Act, or Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act, was signed into law on October 26, 2001, in the wake of terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon. The legislation grants law enforcement and intelligence agencies more power to detain and question suspects for longer periods of time, and increases their ability to conduct surveillance operations.
The act further calls on federal agencies to share information regarding terrorist activities with each other, and with foreign intelligence services if necessary. Thus, domestic law enforcement was granted new ...