Final answer:
The Patriot Act expanded federal powers to conduct searches without strict warrant requirements, enabling easier investigation of terrorism suspects, but also raised concerns about privacy and potential misuse for non-terrorism cases.
Step-by-step explanation:
The Patriot Act, officially known as the Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001, significantly expanded the tools and powers available to federal agents conducting searches during terrorism investigations.
This act made it easier for officials to seek and obtain search warrants and, in some situations, allowed them to bypass the need for a warrant entirely, which has led to concerns and criticisms about potential overreach and intrusion on privacy.
One notable example of expanded surveillance powers involves the capability of federal agents to conduct electronic monitoring without the need to demonstrate probable cause as stringently as was required prior to the Act. This has had a broad impact on the ability of agencies like the FBI to monitor communications that may be related to terrorist activities.
Critics of the Patriot Act argue that these expanded powers have been used to prosecute ordinary criminals beyond the scope of counter-terrorism.
The debate over the balance between national security and individual privacy continues, heightened by cases such as Carpenter v. United States (2018) where the Supreme Court ruled that police need a search warrant to gather certain types of electronic evidence.