The Myth of Posse Comitatus
Here is an interesting website of the Homeland Security Institute:
The Homeland Security Institute (HSI) is a Congressionally chartered Federally Funded Research and Development Center (FFRDC).1 We are dedicated solely to supporting the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the homeland security mission.
1Homeland Security Act of 2002, Sec. 312, 6 USC 192 (2002). Sec. 312 (g) was amended by the Homeland Security Appropriations Act of 2005, Title V, General Provisions, Sec. 520.
It contains an article, originally written in 2000, entitled, “The Myth of Posse Comitatus” that provides a history of the genesis and steady dilution of the act:
The erosion of the Posse Comitatus Act through Congressional legislation and executive policy has left a hollow shell in place of a law that formerly was a real limitation on the military’s role in civilian law enforcement and security issues. The plethora of constitutional and statutory exceptions to the act provides the executive branch with a menu of options under which it can justify the use of military forces to combat domestic terrorism. Whether an act of terrorism is classified as a civil disturbance under 10 U.S.C., 331–334, or whether the president relies upon constitutional power to preserve federal functions, it is difficult to think of a domestic terrorism scenario of sizable scale under which the use of the military could not be lawfully justified in view of the act’s erosion. The act is no longer a realistic bar to direct military involvement in counterterrorism planning and operations. It is a low legal hurdle that can be easily cleared through invocation of the appropriate legal justification, either before or after the fact.
Significantly, that was before the further deterioration of our Liberties since 9/11. Anyone interested in this subject should find reading the whole thing elucidating. â—„Daveâ–º
Unfortunately, most people in this country don’t even know what the Posse Comitatus Act is and that would explain why there was nothing said by the MSM about the military personal being called out in Alabama after that shooter went on his shooting spree. It’s just another brick in the wall.
A newly revised article about the erosion of the Posse Comitatus doctrine since 9/11 has just been published by the author in the May 2009 issue of ARMY magazine. Here’s the link: http://www.ausa.org/publications/armymagazine/armyarchive/may2009/Pages/ResurrectingPosseComitatusinthePost-911World.aspx