Does the Posse Comitatus Act (PCA) still apply in 2006? ... and
domestic violence under the 1956 Insurrection Act (10 USC
331-382); and to share information ...
Results 1 - 10 of about 123 for The Insurrection Act (10
U.S.C.331 -335).
Bush Moves Toward Martial Law
by repost Saturday, Oct. 28, 2006 at 2:39 AM
http://sf.indymedia.org/news/2006/10/1732834.php
In a stealth maneuver, President Bush has signed into law a
provision which, according to Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont),
will actually encourage the President to declare federal martial
law (1). It does so by revising the Insurrection Act, a set of
laws that limits the President's ability to deploy troops within
the United States. The Insurrection Act (10 U.S.C.331 -335) has
historically, along with the Posse Comitatus Act (18
U.S.C.1385), helped to enforce strict prohibitions on military
involvement in domestic law enforcement. With one cloaked swipe
of his pen, Bush is seeking to undo those prohibitions.
Public Law 109-364, or the "John Warner Defense Authorization
Act of 2007" (H.R.5122) (2), which was signed by the commander
in chief on October 17th, 2006, in a private Oval Office
ceremony, allows the President to declare a "public emergency"
and station troops anywhere in America and take control of
state-based National Guard units without the consent of the
governor or local authorities, in order to "suppress public
disorder."
President Bush seized this unprecedented power on the very same
day that he signed the equally odious Military Commissions Act
of 2006. In a sense, the two laws complement one another. One
allows for torture and detention abroad, while the other seeks
to enforce acquiescence at home, preparing to order the military
onto the streets of America. Remember, the term for putting an
area under military law enforcement control is precise; the term
is "martial law."
Section 1076 of the massive Authorization Act, which grants the
Pentagon another $500-plus-billion for its ill-advised
adventures, is entitled, "Use of the Armed Forces in Major
Public Emergencies." Section 333, "Major public emergencies;
interference with State and Federal law" states that "the
President may employ the armed forces, including the National
Guard in Federal service, to 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
domestic violence has occurred to such an extent that the
constituted authorities of the State or possession are incapable
of ("refuse" or "fail" in) maintaining public order, "in order
to suppress, in any State, any insurrection, domestic violence,
unlawful combination, or conspiracy."
For the current President, "enforcement of the laws to restore
public order" means to commandeer guardsmen from any state, over
the objections of local governmental, military and local police
entities; ship them off to another state; conscript them in a
law enforcement mode; and set them loose against "disorderly"
citizenry - protesters, possibly, or those who object to forced
vaccinations and quarantines in the event of a bio-terror event.
The law also facilitates militarized police round-ups and
detention of protesters, so called "illegal aliens," "potential
terrorists" and other "undesirables" for detention in facilities
already contracted for and under construction by Halliburton.
That's right. Under the cover of a trumped-up "immigration
emergency" and the frenzied militarization of the southern
border, detention camps are being constructed right under our
noses, camps designed for anyone who resists the foreign and
domestic agenda of the Bush administration.
An article on "recent contract awards" in a recent issue of the
slick, insider "Journal of Counterterrorism & Homeland Security
International" reported that "global engineering and technical
services powerhouse KBR [Kellog, Brown & Root] announced in
January 2006 that its Government and Infrastructure division was
awarded an Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ)
contract to support U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
(ICE) facilities in the event of an emergency." "With a maximum
total value of $385 million over a five year term," the report
notes, "the contract is to be executed by the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers," "for establishing temporary detention and processing
capabilities to augment existing ICE Detention and Removal
Operations (DRO) - in the event of an emergency influx of
immigrants into the U.S., or to support the rapid development of
new programs." The report points out that "KBR is the
engineering and construction subsidiary of Halliburton." (3) So,
in addition to authorizing another $532.8 billion for the
Pentagon, including a $70-billion "supplemental provision" which
covers the cost of the ongoing, mad military maneuvers in Iraq,
Afghanistan, and other places, the new law, signed by the
president in a private White House ceremony, further collapses
the historic divide between the police and the military: a
tell-tale sign of a rapidly consolidating police state in
America, all accomplished amidst ongoing U.S. imperial
pretensions of global domination, sold to an "emergency managed"
and seemingly willfully gullible public as a "global war on
terrorism."
Make no mistake about it: the de-facto repeal of the Posse
Comitatus Act (PCA) is an ominous assault on American democratic
tradition and jurisprudence. The 1878 Act, which reads,
"Whoever, except in cases and under circumstances expressly
authorized by the Constitution or Act of Congress, willfully
uses any part of the Army or Air Force as a posse comitatus or
otherwise to execute the laws shall be fined under this title or
imprisoned not more than two years, or both," is the only U.S.
criminal statute that outlaws military operations directed
against the American people under the cover of 'law
enforcement.' As such, it has been the best protection we've had
against the power-hungry intentions of an unscrupulous and
reckless executive, an executive intent on using force to
enforce its will.
Unfortunately, this past week, the president dealt posse
comitatus, along with American democracy, a near fatal blow.
Consequently, it will take an aroused citizenry to undo the
damage wrought by this horrendous act, part and parcel, as we
have seen, of a long train of abuses and outrages perpetrated by
this authoritarian administration.
Despite the unprecedented and shocking nature of this act, there
has been no outcry in the American media, and little reaction
from our elected officials in Congress. On September 19th, a
lone Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) noted that 2007's Defense
Authorization Act contained a "widely opposed provision to allow
the President more control over the National Guard [adopting]
changes to the Insurrection Act, which will make it easier for
this or any future President to use the military to restore
domestic order WITHOUT the consent of the nation's governors."
Senator Leahy went on to stress that, "we certainly do not need
to make it easier for Presidents to declare martial law.
Invoking the Insurrection Act and using the military for law
enforcement activities goes against some of the central tenets
of our democracy. One can easily envision governors and mayors
in charge of an emergency having to constantly look over their
shoulders while someone who has never visited their communities
gives the orders."
A few weeks later, on the 29th of September, Leahy entered into
the Congressional Record that he had "grave reservations about
certain provisions of the fiscal Year 2007 Defense Authorization
Bill Conference Report," the language of which, he said,
"subverts solid, longstanding posse comitatus statutes that
limit the military's involvement in law enforcement, thereby
making it easier for the President to declare martial law." This
had been "slipped in," Leahy said, "as a rider with little
study," while "other congressional committees with jurisdiction
over these matters had no chance to comment, let alone hold
hearings on, these proposals."
In a telling bit of understatement, the Senator from Vermont
noted that "the implications of changing the (Posse Comitatus)
Act are enormous". "There is good reason," he said, "for the
constructive friction in existing law when it comes to martial
law declarations. Using the military for law enforcement goes
against one of the founding tenets of our democracy. We fail our
Constitution, neglecting the rights of the States, when we make
it easier for the President to declare martial law and trample
on local and state sovereignty."
Senator Leahy's final ruminations: "Since hearing word a couple
of weeks ago that this outcome was likely, I have wondered how
Congress could have gotten to this point. It seems the changes
to the Insurrection Act have survived the Conference because the
Pentagon and the White House want it."
The historic and ominous re-writing of the Insurrection Act,
accomplished in the dead of night, which gives Bush the legal
authority to declare martial law, is now an accomplished fact.
The Pentagon, as one might expect, plays an even more direct
role in martial law operations. Title XIV of the new law,
entitled, "Homeland Defense Technology Transfer Legislative
Provisions," authorizes "the Secretary of Defense to create a
Homeland Defense Technology Transfer Consortium to improve the
effectiveness of the Department of Defense (DOD) processes for
identifying and deploying relevant DOD technology to federal,
State, and local first responders."
In other words, the law facilitates the "transfer" of the newest
in so-called "crowd control" technology and other weaponry
designed to suppress dissent from the Pentagon to local
militarized police units. The new law builds on and further
codifies earlier "technology transfer" agreements, specifically
the 1995 DOD-Justice Department memorandum of agreement achieved
back during the Clinton-Reno regime.(4)
It has become clear in recent months that a critical mass of the
American people have seen through the lies of the Bush
administration; with the president's polls at an historic low,
growing resistance to the war Iraq, and the Democrats likely to
take back the Congress in mid-term elections, the Bush
administration is on the ropes. And so it is particularly
worrying that President Bush has seen fit, at this juncture to,
in effect, declare himself dictator.
Source:
(1)
http://leahy.senate.gov/press/200609/091906a.html and
http://leahy.senate.gov/press/200609/092906b.html See also,
Congressional Research Service Report for Congress, "The Use of
Federal Troops for Disaster Assistance: Legal Issues," by
Jennifer K. Elsea, Legislative Attorney, August 14, 2006
(2)
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill+h109-5122
(3) Journal of Counterterrorism & Homeland Security
International, "Recent Contract Awards", Summer 2006, Vol.12,
No.2, pg.8; See also, Peter Dale Scott, "Homeland Security
Contracts for Vast New Detention Camps," New American Media,
January 31, 2006.
(4) "Technology Transfer from defense: Concealed Weapons
Detection", National Institute of Justice Journal, No 229,
August, 1995, pp.42-43.
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