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The Acts Record
- USA PATRIOT Act
Named for patriotism. Section 215 authorized collection of business records without individualized suspicion.
- FISA Amendments Act of 2008
The name claims nothing. Section 702 authorized acquisition of communications content without a warrant, and three federal appeals courts upheld it.
- Bank Secrecy Act
Signed October 26, 1970. Thirty-one years later to the day, the PATRIOT Act rewrote its stated purpose to add counterterrorism.
- Communications Decency Act
Titled for decency. Its decency provisions were struck down in 1997. What survived was Section 509, titled Online Family Empowerment, now the platform liability shield.
- Espionage Act of 1917
Named for espionage. It was used to imprison a presidential candidate for a speech against the draft, and it remains the statute used to prosecute leaks.
- Authorization for Use of Military Force
Sixty words, passed one week after 9/11 with a single dissenting vote. It has been cited more than forty times in eighteen countries and has never…
- National Emergencies Act
Passed in 1976 to put emergency powers under congressional control. An emergency declared during the Iran hostage crisis has now been renewed every year for forty…