I see the Patriot Act as a grab to expand the reach of existing powers rather than a move into new powers. The powers it granted mostly fit within the existing constitutional framework of what the federal government is allowed to do rather than asserting new powers. I see this as meaningfully different, as the federal government could have enacted something like the Patriot Act at almost any time after WWII but never chose to, likely because it was technologically infeasible to carry out.
It also wasn’t a power grab against the states so much as a power grab against the privacy of individual citizens, and the Supreme Court has made it clear on multiple occasions that there is no general right to privacy, only privacy as a consideration.
Whether it’s a power grab against states depends on whether the surveillance powers would be used in cases where the states try to defy the Federal government.
If a state would try to throw out all Federal agents, the power would likely be used to fight such attempts.
In what way wasn’t the Patriot Act a huge power grab?
I see the Patriot Act as a grab to expand the reach of existing powers rather than a move into new powers. The powers it granted mostly fit within the existing constitutional framework of what the federal government is allowed to do rather than asserting new powers. I see this as meaningfully different, as the federal government could have enacted something like the Patriot Act at almost any time after WWII but never chose to, likely because it was technologically infeasible to carry out.
It also wasn’t a power grab against the states so much as a power grab against the privacy of individual citizens, and the Supreme Court has made it clear on multiple occasions that there is no general right to privacy, only privacy as a consideration.
Whether it’s a power grab against states depends on whether the surveillance powers would be used in cases where the states try to defy the Federal government.
If a state would try to throw out all Federal agents, the power would likely be used to fight such attempts.