Warrantless Electronic Surveillance involves secretive use of devices like cameras, tape recorders and others in monitoring what people are doing at different places and events to ensure that all is done in the right manner and that such information can be retrieved when needed. The main objective of the Warrantless Electronic Surveillance is to monitor criminals and other suspected activities and gather all information concerning them. This is used in arresting criminals or investigating crimes that are done in secret. It enables the country to deal with and mitigate the cases of crime in the country. It is a crucial technology that a country can invest in and be able to fight against crimes and other unacceptable conducts within the country. In the United States, electronic surveillance is usually conducted throughout the peoples lives for instance in the military, law, congress, judiciary, the president, law enforcement and the public sector. The private sectors apply the electronic surveillance (OBrien 22).The government is vested with the role of safeguarding the rights of its citizens. In the United States however, the government is deemed to violate peoples rights through the monitoring of the communications through the Warrantless Electronic Surveillance. The National Security Agency use of such technology was necessitated by terrorist attacks that occurred in US in 2001 and electronic surveillance was thought best for dealing with such acts in future. The main aim
of the program was to enable them security agents to gather intelligent information that could be vital in tracing the Americans who collaborates with the terrorists so as to protect the state from occurrence of such activities in the future; with the implementation of this program. According to Richard polsner, [Foreign terrorists would find it difficult to communicate with colleagues or sympathizers in the United States if they had to do so face to face or through messengers because they would know the government was eavesdropping on all their electronic communications] (Richard 3). There was controversy following the implementation of this program as most people held the view that the government was going against their rights as their privacy was no longer maintained. Also, there were some who supported this bill as they argued that the Warrantless Electronic Surveillance program is a useful tool that could be used to keep a close looks at the terrorists together with their activities. Richard Polsner who is an American philosopher and a judge held the views that the Warrantless Electronic Surveillance violates the rights of the American citizens as far as their privacy is concerned. The following essay thus examines the Richard Posners article in favor of the Warrantless Electronic Surveillance and tries to provide the case for and against the program. The essay also has a conclusion which refutes the Polsners article in favor of the Warrantless electronic surveillance.