The Original Intent
In 1878, the Posse Comitatus Act was passed with the intention of limiting the use of the Military in the recent decisions regarding black freedmen and their ability to vote. Obviously, this act has a much broader purpose and application, but the original intent was as stated. Additionally, the creation of the act was somewhat founded in the way Americans felt about the use of the British military and the way they were used against Americans prior to our independence (Somerville, n.d.).
Today’s Application
In today’s times, the use of the Military for Law Enforcement purposes is still strictly limited per the act. The exceptions are the use of the Coast Guard during peacetime and the use of the National Guard for law enforcement purposes within their state based on an activation by the governor (2013). As we have witnessed recently, there are times that National Guards from one state may be used in another state, however they are strictly limited to humanitarian efforts only (Hunter, 2018). As for the use of the Department of Defense [DOD] following a disaster, I don’t see any way that it would conflict with the Posse Comitatus Act as long as the efforts are
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humanitarian in nature. That is to say, that as long as there are no law enforcement activities on the part of the DOD, it would in no way violate the act. Why it works Realistically, there is no need for the U.S.
Military to ever take on a law enforcement role with the boundaries of the United States. To put it another way, our country and our states have multiple levels of law enforcement agencies that can handle any situation they are presented with. Some agencies specialize in specific areas, while others provide more of general service. Each state has basically mirrored its’ approach to law enforcement in many ways based on the federal approach. Meaning, most states have a state bureau of investigation, a state office of homeland security, state level emergency management agencies and general service state police agencies. It is for the this reason that there should never be a need for the U.S. Military to take on a law enforcement
role. References Hunter, N. D. (2018). The law of emergencies: Public health and disaster management. Oxford, United Kingdom: Butterworth-Heinemann, an imprint of Elsevier. Somerville, D. (n.d.). What Is the Posse Comitatus Act? Retrieved from https://historynewsnetwork.org/article/16616 The Posse Comitatus Act. (2013, May 16). Retrieved April 22, 2018, from http://www.northcom.mil/Newsroom/Fact-Sheets/Article-View/Article/563993/the-posse-comitatus-act/
Fields case Abel Fields falsely claimed that he had won a purple heart for his bravery.
...state. Failure to include local forces immensely reduces our span of influence and increase dependency between the host nation and the USG.
However, after reading the article the author noted that police are mandated to enforce civilian law and order, investigate crimes, and strictly follow legal procedures even when in pursuit of chronic and dangerous criminals (Kagoro, 2014). Ideally, it has been argued, there should be strict dividing lines between the police and the military; the former for domestic purposes with the latter protecting citizens from external threats (Kagoro, 2014). In his article on the anti-militarization of the police in the United States, Kurt Andrew Schlichter aptly put it that the military is designed, organized, and equipped to execute rapid, violent and efficient obliteration of the “enemy”-whoever the enemy may be ( Kagoro, 2014). However, the law enforcement is usually modeled after the military and in fact there a large number of police officers who are former military personnel. This was a new criticism of police that was unfamiliar to me in the study of criminal justice but, I found it to be a valid point. The idea of changing the focus of policing to be less of a battlefield and more of a community may be a compelling approach to make interaction with citizens less
The Posse Comitatus Act of 1878 was a federal law enacted by congress in 1878 to restrict the federal governments from utilizing the Air Force and Army powers in civil law enforcement functions. The law ensures that civilian police agencies are directly responsible for all law enforcement functions in the United States, and the Armed Forces are responsible for fighting American wars abroad. The military can only be used as law enforcement in America if it specifically authorized.
In Rise of the Warrior Cop, Radley Balko views the steady militarization of the police in the U.S. A detailed history of a dangerous trend, Mr. Balko's book tracks police militarization over the past 50 years, a period that not coincidentally corresponds with the rise of SWAT teams but on purpose. Established in the early 1960s and where mostly used in the bigger cities and used against heavily armed and dangerous criminals. Today SWAT teams are almost common in every city in the country. 80% of towns between 25,000 and 50,000 also have their own SWAT teams. Its not li...
...nt to work together has increased. It has become more common place for federal law enforcement to work with local law enforcement. The monetary influence from programs administered by the Executive Branch with such programs as COPS, helps bring new technologies to local police agencies, thus impacting policing. Moreover, the federal law enforcement’s creation of new crime fighting technologies, eventually make their way into the state and local police departments. This supports the idea that both the Legislative and Executive Branches influence law enforcement; however, the Executive Branch provides a more direct and active influence.
During the war, the confiscation act of 1861 provided legal status to the influx of black refugees in the north, calling them contrabands, while emancipation gave them the right to enlist and be recognized as a
Celeste Saenz 4th Period 5/20/14. Gestapo World War 2 began in 1939. It was the deadliest and most widespread war in history. There were more than 30 countries involved in the war, and more than 5,000,000 deaths throughout. The war finally ended in 1945.
Since even before the United States has been classified as a nation, African Americans have served in armed forces. From a little village militias to the army or sailors, African Americans have stepped up to help defend and eventually earn their own freedom. The battle for unification and for recognition of black soldiers has been a slow undertaking. It wasn't until after World War II that the U.S. armed forces became fully and lawfully unified, under a 1948 executive order by President Harry S. Truman. They were “unified”; meaning that the African American troops could be in the same regiments and squads as the white men. Previously they underwent completely separate training and were assorted to their own regiments. Throughout time many groups of enlisted black men have made up the hammer which broke down the racial barriers which were all too common up until about 45 years ago. All of this had to start somewhere, which leads me to the Revolutionary War.
First, The May Act signed by Roosevelt allowed the government to create “moral zones” for military personal.[1] This intrigues me because it cites military personnel as worthy of protection from the state, while other groups were left vulnerable to violence. Furthermore, the military has a monopoly on violence and force. They can legally attack another nation and their attack will be seen as justified. Yet, their soldiers have to be morally policed due to their immature or irresponsible behavior. Groups that are expected to protect citizens cannot police
Under the 13th amendment, slavery is now illegal, unless of course you are a criminal. This loophole led to injustice, racism, more profits for corporations and more poverty.
In 1866 a bill was passed by Congress to allow the formation of an all black regiment. In all there would be several different regiments comprised of only black soldiers. The regiments were formed by the black enlistees and usually the duties were carried out by a white officer.
In order to prevent traditionalist European powers from interfering on the behalf of Spain during Latin America’s war for independence, the Monroe Doctrine was delivered to Congress on December 2, 1823. The important provisions of the Monroe doctrine were as follows: First, the American countries were not to be considered as subjects for future colonization by any European power. Second, the United States promised not to become involved in any European wars. Lastly, any attempt by a European power to re-establish Spain as the ruler of Latin America would be considered an “unfriendly disposition” towards the United States. Furthermore, Since both President Monroe and the Secretary of State, John Quincy Adams, supported the revolt in
What is a military tribunal? Has the U.S. used military tribunals in the past? Is the U.S. currently using military tribunals and, if so, what is their status?
In Intro to Criminal Justice class, I had the opportunity to learn about the Criminal Justice System more thoroughly. I learned that there are three components that make up the Criminal Justice System such as the courts, law enforcement, and corrections. Each component has its own role in making sure the the Criminal Justice System is functioning properly. If one of these components are not efficient the Criminal Justice system will not be as strong as it could be.