Fine Print in Defense Bill Opens Door to Martial Law
Posted in H.L. News, Main Blog (All Posts) on December 6th, 2006 11:40 am by HL
Fine Print in Defense Bill Opens Door to Martial Law
CQ.com
Excerpt:
Signed by President Bush on Oct. 17, the law (PL 109-364) has a provocative provision called “Use of the Armed Forces in Major Public Emergencies.â€
The thrust of it seems to be about giving the federal government a far stronger hand in coordinating responses to Katrina-like disasters.
But on closer inspection, its language also alters the two-centuries-old Insurrection Act, which Congress passed in 1807 to limit the president’s power to deploy troops within the United States.
That law has long allowed the president to mobilize troops only “to suppress, in a State, any insurrection, domestic violence, unlawful combination, or conspiracy.â€
But the amended law takes the cuffs off.
Specifically, the new language adds “natural disaster, epidemic, or other serious public health emergency, terrorist attack or incident†to the list of conditions permitting the President to take over local authority — particularly “if domestic violence has occurred to such an extent that the constituted authorities of the State or possession are incapable of maintaining public order.â€
Since the administration broadened what constitutes “conspiracy†in its definition of enemy combatants — anyone who “has purposely and materially supported hostilities against the United States,†in the language of the Military Commissions Act (PL 109-366) — critics say it’s a formula for executive branch mischief.
Yet despite such a radical turn, the new law garnered little dissent, or even attention, on the Hill.
December 7th, 2006 at 2:02 am
Suppress the patriots, take their guns away, monitor their movement, tap their phones, open their mail, listen in on the conversations at home, and destroy the US Constitution It’s all good when you’re a crypto and fascist.
December 7th, 2006 at 7:14 pm
Surely you’re not saying the republicans are taking our guns away?!? Take whose guns? What guns?
Oh>>you must be talking about what the terrorists have been trying to do.
December 7th, 2006 at 7:36 pm
As always, it’s what you do with what you have. Power is a multi-faceted equation.
December 19th, 2006 at 12:31 am
Right…who wants legislation banning guns? ADL
December 19th, 2006 at 7:07 pm
Does the Anti-Defamation League want to ban guns? I’m guessing that you don’t. Well, I suppose that’s 1 thing you & Buck have in common.