Fewer Freedoms Friday: BYE BYE POSSE COMITATUS

Posse Comitatus is a latin phrase that has come to represent the concept that a country's military cannot be used as a police force. Until 2006, the United States had a law on the book that would remove this law from the books only in cases of an extreme emergency, like a Katrina or a huge earthquake. However, thanks to the podcast from DemocracyNow.Org, I stumbled across the fact that George W. Bush has signed into law a little piece of legislation that would give him the ability to call in the military (aka declaring martial law) pretty much when ever he wants. Here's the nitty-gritty, folks. Buried inside HR 5122, which was passed last year by both the House and Senate, is a neat little provision that goes, in part, like this:

`Sec. 333. Major public emergencies; interference with State and Federal law `(a) Use of Armed Forces in Major Public Emergencies- (1) The President may employ the armed forces, including the National Guard in Federal service, to-- `(A) restore public order and enforce the laws of the United States when, as a result of a natural disaster, epidemic, or other serious public health emergency, terrorist attack or incident, or other condition in any State or possession of the United States, the President determines that-- `(i) domestic violence has occurred to such an extent that the constituted authorities of the State or possession are incapable of maintaining public order; and `(ii) such violence results in a condition described in paragraph (2); or `(B) suppress, in a State, any insurrection, domestic violence, unlawful combination, or conspiracy if such insurrection, violation, combination, or conspiracy results in a condition described in paragraph (2). (2) A condition described in this paragraph is a condition that-- `(A) so hinders the execution of the laws of a State or possession, as applicable, and of the United States within that State or possession, that any part or class of its people is deprived of a right, privilege, immunity, or protection named in the Constitution and secured by law, and the constituted authorities of that State or possession are unable, fail, or refuse to protect that right, privilege, or immunity, or to give that protection; or `(B) opposes or obstructs the execution of the laws of the United States or impedes the course of justice under those laws.

The problem here? Well, it's the part that gives Bush the ability to decide for himself what constitutes a situation where the military is needed. He determines whether or not a state requiring the military exists. The ONLY condition he has to meet is that something is going on that "opposes or obstructs the execution of the laws of the United States or impedes the course of justice under those laws." In humanspeak, that means, if the local authorities are having trouble enforcing the law. This law taken literally means that Bush can declare martial law when ever he sees fit. Now, I'm not saying there are going to be soldiers on every corner, but even if there is one around, wouldn't you prefer the law be enforced by a person trained in enforcing the law, as opposed to a person trained to kill people? PLEASE read more about this!! Check out [http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/02/20/1523245|the headlines from February 20, 2007] at DemocracyNow.Org to read a very short blurb about this story. You can also check out [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insurrection_Act|the entry for the Insurrection Act] at Wikipedia.org (check out the section called "recent changes". Read [http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=h109-5122&show-changes=0|the text of the law] at http://GovTrack.us and decide for yourself. Please tell people about this story. Combined with the revocation of Habeas Corpus, we are starting to seriously lose some rights. Of course, most of us won't notice they're gone until we reach for them. This is why we need to start reaching for them now.

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