Tomorrow marks the anniversary of the USA PATRIOT Act - a textbook example of how the United States federal government expands its power.
Passed with little to no oversight - former Rep. John Conyers joked that no one had actually read it - and during a time of panic in the United States immediately after the attacks on 9/11, a number of the Act's provisions have since been found unconstitutional.
Presented as a way to investigate terrorism, the provisions have widely been used to investigate non-terrorist acts. In one of the most absurd applications of the PATRIOT Act, Adam McGaughey was charged with copyright infringement and computer fraud for running a fansite for the sci-fi series Stargate SG-1. The FBI used the PATRIOT Act to get financial records from McGaughey's website's ISP.
This raises the question of why should an Act designed to fight terrorism allow the government to investigate virtually everyone? To read our full article on the USA PATRIOT Act check out The USA PATRIOT Act: The Story of an Impulsive Bill That Eviscerated America's Civil Liberties at Ammo.com.