Martial Law Welcomed in the United States

The Posse Comitatus Act was formed in 1876 after Reconstruction was a part of the compromise that occurred in result of the controversial presidential election of 1876 in which Democrat Sam Tilden defeated Republican candidate Rutherford B. Hayes in the popular vote, but not obtain the majority of the electoral votes (this election is often compared to the 2000 election). According to The Overview of the Posse Comitatus Act, it was composed with the intent to end the use of federal troops with the exception of the National Guard to police and enforce civil and state laws in the former Confederate states.

After the passing of this law, it was almost forgotten until Sept. 2006 after the disastrous aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and the outbreak of chaos in and around New Orleans. At that time, President Bush pleaded with Congress to amend the act in order to step in immediately after the natural disaster. Those changes were included in the John Warner National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2007 (H.R. 5122 (2006)), which was signed into law in Oct. 2006 and states, "The President may employ the armed forces...to...restore public order and enforce the laws of the United States, as a result of natural disaster". These revisions allowed executive powers to declare martial law and take charge of the National Guard troops without the authority of the state governor.

OEN (Op Ed News) calls the act in its recent form the "guise of disaster preparedness" and another "specter of 9/11...used to undermine the constitution." The Department of Homeland Security justifies the use of martial law in relation to the act passed in 1876 as a "statutory creation, not a constitutional prohibition." In fact, the United States government has repeatedly repealed the Posse Comitatus, including using Navy and Air Force militia during the Reagan Administration to protect the borders of the U.S. to "preempt drug smuggling". According to them the "erosion" of the act is mainly because the change in time and the increased threat of terrorists and states that the act is a law that created "a real limitation on the military's role in civilian law enforcement and security issues."

There are pros and cons of Posse Commitatus. On one hand, there are obvious threats to national security where the President would need immediate access to the National Guard troops of a specific state, including a national disaster. If this law was not in play during Hurricane Katrina, President Bush could have had immediate access to the National Guard, deploying to New Orleans before the storm hit and possibly preventing the devastation that occurred in the days following the storm with thousands waiting for aid. The restrictions put upon the government prevents them from deploying the a mass amount of troops in order to enforce law across the U.S.

However, the Defense Department plans to do just that, announcing the expect to deploy 20,000 uniformed troops inside the United States by 2011 to help state and local officials respond to possible terrorists attacks, according to Washington Post. Critics suggests that this is an awful idea, not only because it does not abide to the restrictions of Posses Comitatus, but it also strains the already strained military forces.

So expect the complete annihilation of a law that the Homeland Security office claims is outdated or a change in the plans of the Defense Department, who has been planning this deployment since the 9/11 attacks when the American people were very supportive of it. How willing are you to submit to martial law?

Brinkerhoff, John R. The Posse Comitatus Act and Homeland Security. http://www.homelandsecurity.org/journal/Articles/brinkerhoffpossecomitatus.htm

Moffett, John. "Posse Commitatus RIP". http://www.opednews.com/articles/Posse-Comitatus-RIP-by-John-R-Moffett-081201-369.html

Hsu, Spencer; Tyson, Anne Scott. "Pentagon to Bolster Domestic Security" http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/30/AR2008113002217_pf.html