Specifically, which amendments does the USA Patriot Act violate?
The clumsily-titled Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001 (USA PATRIOT Act, or USAPA) introduced a plethora of legislative changes which significantly increased the surveillance and investigative powers of law enforcement agencies in the United States. The Act did not, however, provide for the system of checks and balances that traditionally safeguards civil liberties in the face of such legislation. Legislative proposals in response to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 were introduced less than a week after the attacks. President Bush signed the final bill, the USA PATRIOT Act, into law on October 26, 2001. Though the Act made significant amendments to over 15 important statutes, it was introduced with great haste and passed with little debate, and without a House, Senate, or conference report. As a result, it lacks background legislative history that often retrospectively provides necessary
“The Patriot Act violates four of the 10 amendments in the Bill of Rights. These are the big ones, the ones that the Founding Fathers wrote. The Sixth Amendment guarantees all citizens the right to a speedy and public trial decided by an impartial jury. Apparently, Ashcroft has never actually read the Bill of Rights (or else he thinks it’s ok to violate them) because, according to the Associated Press, the Patriot Act allows the government to jail Americans indefinitely without a trial. The act also allows the government to monitor religious and political groups without suspecting criminal activity, jail citizens without charging them with a crime and take library records without telling people. In fact, if a librarian does tell you Big Brother Ashcroft took your records, the government can prosecute the librarian, which is a direct infringement on the freedom of speech.
