The Posse Comitatus Act is Outdated and Should Be Rescinded - Essay Example

The Posse Comitatus Act The Posse Comitatus Act is not out d, and it continues to serve an important purpose in our modern country. The purpose of the act is rather simple: to bar the military from enforcing domestic laws. The Act was signed into law after the Civil War and the ensuing Restoration period. During Restoration, the Union army enforced the laws in the former Confederate states. This was deemed necessary at the time; however, in order for the country to survive as a republic, the Posse Comitatus Act was signed into law. While there have been various instances where the Act was altered, the law has reverted back to its original intent and purpose. There has been more recent debate over this law in this past decade. Two instances have brought the Act into the spotlight, and these two instances were two of the largest and most influential events of the decade. These two events, of course, are September 11th, 2001, and Hurricane Katrina. Katrina highlights the role that the military tens to play during natural disasters of this magnitude. President Bush briefly signed into a law and act which circumvented the Posse Comitatus Act, and though he wished to make it permanent, it was repealed after the disaster and the effects of it had been stabilized. To understand further the necessity to keep the military and civil sectors of the country separate, the nature of the separation needs to be considered in more depth. The initial purpose of the military was for the protection of this country. While this is still its main priority, the military is also sent into foreign countries on peace keeping missions as well. Enforcing the laws of the country was never its intended purpose. Law enforcement was left to the civil sector of society. This country was built around the idea of separation of various aspects of the government. Church and state were to be kept separate, as were the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government. This was all to establish a system of checks and balances in order to one sector of the government from abusing its power over another sector of the government. As the military was only supposed to protect civilians from foreign dangers, there is the possibility that an abuse of power might take place if the military were to enforce laws in the civil sector of society, and any sort of allowance to let the military to enforce domestic laws undercuts the value of the separation of various facets of our government, which is one of the main and essential ideas that our government is based upon. While using the military in a great time of need, such as Hurricane Katrina, might seem like a wise decision at the time, the events of September 11th, 2001, and its effects bring into attention the need for this law; while at first this might not appear to be the case, it is my objective to prove this to be so. This is not to say that there are no circumstances under which extreme preventative or tertiary measures should be taken, be everything must be done in consideration to the consequences and the extent to which the very idea of our republic will be tested. Terrorism is considered to fall under the jurisdiction of domestic affairs, but of course there is both the domestic and international aspects to terrorism that must be kept in mind. It is my position that no further powers should be granted to fight terrorism at home or abroad. By current methods, the CIA is supposed to deal with intelligence gathering abroad while the FBI deals with domestic intelligence gathering. In all of this, the army is not responsible for dealing with terrorism. Theoretically, if there were a force within the confines of the United States that was acting as a terrorist force and was attacking civilians, the army could step in and provide defense. But this is all dealing with separate bodies working in a way in which they are depending upon various information from other bodies. What is supposed to take place between these agencies is a matter of information sharing, and it is my position that the only thing that needs to be done is and enforcement and encouragement of information sharing. Furthermore, if the military is taking part in conflicts that are supposed to be counter-terrorism in general as well, then the army should also be forthright in its information sharing with intelligence agencies as well; it is not my recommendation that the military receive the ability to enforce domestic laws in accordance with information that they might receive in regards to terrorism that they receive fighting abroad. Part of the blame that was spread surrounding the events of September 11th was that the various intelligence agencies, but we are not simply talking about a matter of more communication between various agencies. The only other solution would be to surrender civil liberties and allow tighter surveillance for various agencies, but that goes against the entire nature of the republic and the separation of the various facets of government. The main reason that there has been issues lately in regards to the Posse Comitatus Act is the distinction between an act of war and an act of crime. It is currently illegal for the military to take action against an act of terrorism as an act of terrorism is currently defined as a matter of domestic issues. On top of the recommendations that I have already placed, I feel that it is important to not redefine terrorism as an act of war just to allow the military to take part in the enforcement of what would have previously been considered domestic law if such a redefinition were to take place. The main thing that needs to be kept in mind is that any amount of alteration to the Comitatus Act needs to have further measures placed on them. Various African nations and Pakistan have served as a warning for what happens when the military steps in and deals with domestic issues. The United States is extremely far from the unstable kind of conditions that would allow for the abuses that have taken place and are currently taking place in those countries, though that is no reason not to remain cautious in the defense of the separation between the various governmental bodies and the system of checks and balances those separations create. The Posse Comitatus Act is a valuable piece of legislation that needs to be preserved in order to maintain the integrity of our government. Read More