Can a person who is older than 21 years be prohibted from consuming alcohol by the government? Are there any countries that have laws that are similar to our Patriot Act?
The short answer to both your questions is yes.
On the alcohol question, 21’s not a magic number. Most jurisdictions in this country set 21 as the drinking age but there wouldn’t be anything illegal about moving it to 18 or 28. And there are areas which prohibit all alcohol consumption.
On the second question, I’d have to know more details about what specific aspects of the Patriot Act you’re referring to to be able to give examples of similar laws.
On the Patriot Act I would mean like having the powers to arrest somebody without informing them of what they’ve done or being able to listen in or read emails on a suspicious person. I hope I am not wrong about these facts in the Patriot Act.
Sure. They can pass most any law they like, and many jurisdictions are “dry” (no alcohol allowed at all).
Also, a court may order a specific person not to drink as a condition of sentencing or as part of parole/probation.
The first part of what you’ve described isn’t entirely accurate. The PATRIOT Act extends the power of the attorney general to detain non-citizens. They may be held indefinitely but must be charged with a crime or immigration vilation within seven days. American citizens cannot be detained under this method. If you’re thinking about the case of Jose Padilla, his detention is not under the auspices of the PATRIOT Act, since he is a US Citizen. He is being held as an enemy combatant, which I believe is allowed based on the 1942 Supreme Court ruling in Quirin v Cox.
As to the second part, law enforcement has always been able to eavesdrop or intercept communication with a warrant, and they still need one. The PATRIOT Act changes some of the rules about how this is done. For example, a warrant can now be obtained for surveilance on a person rather than on a specific phone.
Wikipedia has a good and mostly balanced overview of the PATIROT Act.
Thanks for the cite.