[Peace-discuss] Posse Comitatus Act & Militarizatiion of Police

[E. W. Johnson]

One of the great evils encouraged by the Lincoln Coup was the 
federalization of the US and the
oppression of local subsidiarity.  By encouraging (by force) the 
strengthening  of the federal power
the amount of power vested in the Presidency was dramatically increased 
and the ability of
local people to choose how they want to live was diminished.


On 02/27/2015 01:02 AM, C. G. Estabrook via Peace-discuss wrote:
> Part of the Compromise of 1877, it restored police power to the Southern ruling class and ended federal military protection of black civil rights.
>
> See the remarkable (and practically unique) book, "Slavery by Another Name: The Re-Enslavement of Black Americans from the Civil War to World War II" (2009) by Douglas Blackmon.
>
> On Tuesday we should talk about its present-day significance (and that of the 2nd & 3rd* Amendments, as Ron mentioned) with reference to the Obama administration's plans for managing mass political protest (cf. the suppression of Occupy and the Boston lock-down).
>
> ---CGE
> __________
> * I find that the 3rd Amendment - expressly prohibiting the military from peacetime quartering of troops without consent of the owner of the house - has been "the subject of only one case in over 200 years (Engblom v. Carey)"!
> I wonder if citizens of Watertown MA (where I used to live) could have used that after the Tsarnaev affair?
> Also, considering the 2nd & 3rd together seems to make it clear that the "right to keep and bear arms" is better thought of as a corporate, not a personal right.
> When I ran for Congress as a Green, we dealt with 2nd Amendment questions by suggesting that gun laws should be dealt with in accord with the principle of subsidiarity ("Tocqueville's classic study, Democracy in America, may be viewed as an examination of the operation of the principle of subsidiarity in early 19th century America") - i.e., laws appropriate in Cook County are not necessarily appropriate in rural counties.
>
>
> On Feb 26, 2015, at 9:40 AM, Karen Aram via Peace-discuss <peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net> wrote:
>
>> Tuesday on the AOTA program, I referred to a law that prevents the military from "controlling our streets", "control" that is meant for police or national guard. I couldn't remember the Latin name.
>> This is in no way affiliated with the right wing vigilante group who in 1969 took the same name.
>>   
>> It is as above Posse Comitatus, and was initially enacted at the end of reconstruction. Please see below a brief description by Wikipedia.
>>   
>> I raise this issue because I would think it should also apply to the militarization of our police departments when we supply them with military equipment, weapons and training to control our streets. Just a thought, and maybe a stretch.
>>   
>> A lawyer would be able to ascertain whether it could be used to challenge what is happening to police departments across the nation.
>>   
>>    Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
>>          
>> This article is about the Posse Comitatus Act in the United States. For other uses of posse comitatus, see Posse comitatus.
>> The Posse Comitatus Act is the United States federal law (18 U.S.C. § 1385, original at 20 Stat. 152) that was passed on June 18, 1878, after the end ofReconstruction and was updated in 1981. The purpose of the act (in concert with the Insurrection Act of 1807) is to limit the powers of Federal government in using its military personnel to enforce the state laws.
>> The Act does not apply to the Army and Air National Guard under state authority from acting in a law enforcement capacity within its home state or in an adjacent state if invited by that state's governor. The United States Coast Guard, which operates under the Department of Homeland Security, is not covered by the Posse Comitatus Act either, primarily because although the Coast Guard is an armed service, it also has both a maritime law enforcement mission and a federal regulatory agency mission. While the Act does not explicitly mention the naval services (United States Navy and the United States Marine Corps), the Department of the Navy has prescribed regulations that are generally construed to give the Act force with respect to those services as well.
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