Government

Should the Government be allowed to Wiretap without permission for Homeland Security

Introduction

I hear you! Have you heard any unusual noises on your phone lately? Due to unwarranted wiretapping this could happen to you. Throughout U.S. history wiretapping has been around. Even before modern telephones people were concerned about wiretapping. Of course, during this time the courts made laws that prohibited anybody from listening in on the telegraph communication. Once, the modern telephone was invented wiretapping became widespread in the U.S. From there on, it has been illegal in the U.S. for an unauthorized person to listen in on somebody else’s private phone (Harris, 2001). But unfortunately, the law has not been so strict for the government. The courts have approved different laws for police and government officials to wiretap. From Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, to the Watergate scandal the FBI has used unauthorized wiretapping to invade people’s privacy. Today wiretapping is being used more than ever. Due to post 9/11 different laws have passed to allow this. Government wiretapping should be a last resort because it invades civil liberties, fail to protect the citizens, and innocent people suffer from unfair punishment (Harris, 2001).

Civil Liberties

The government has no business wiretapping anybody’s phone calls. It is invasion of privacy. It infringes on citizens rights of the fourth amendment. (Strickland & Hunt, 2005). The fourth amendment reads: “ The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, should not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons and things to be seized. ” If a person was born in this country they are a U.S. citizen, so why would they need to wiretap them? Most people have families that have fought in wars to protect...