firing a high-powered combat rifle in an airport could do moreharm than good

[Bill Stewart]

At 03:53 PM 10/05/2001 -0700, Tim May wrote:
>On Friday, October 5, 2001, at 03:31 PM, Steve Furlong wrote:
>>And wasn't there something about not using the military for police
>>matters? Oh, that's right, this is an _emergency_, so it's ok.
>
>It's called "Posse Commitatus," and it's clear that troops cannot be used 
>on U.S. soil.
>
>There have been a _few_ cases where regular armed forces were deployed in 
>emergencies. Of course, the War of Northern Aggression was one massive 
>terror action and the army was of course deployed.
>
>The recent deployments in airports are of the National Guard. These units 
>are under controls of _governors_ of states, and are not covered by Posse 
>Comitatus. "Calling in the National Guard" has been common for many decades.

There was a recent article on Posse Comitatus by some military lawyer
that was mentioned on some list in the last month.
IANAJAG, so I don't know how valid it is, but he asserts, probably 
correctly, that:

1) Posse Comitatus is just a *law*, not a Constitutional clause,
         not a court decision - Congress made it, so they can change it,
         any time 51% of them think it's a politically useful thing to do,
         as long as they can talk the President into it,
         and most Presidents aren't all that averse to being given more power.

2) In practice, Posse Comitatus has evolved into a procedural issue,
         not a separation-of-powers issue - the military can't be used
         for domestic law enforcement, at all, for any reason, ever,
         unless they're asked properly on the approriate 3-part-carbon form,
         with the blanks filled in neatly and a signature at the bottom,
         in which case it's just fine if the military brass agree.
         The War On Politically Incorrect Drugs has a lot to do with this,
         but it's been happening anyway.

3) P.C. isn't even an ancient law - it evolved after the War Between The States
         (you could look up the date, I think 1870s).
         So it didn't apply to Northern Aggression, whether you accept the
         Nationalist-Manifest-Destiny position that the Southerners
         were a bunch of rebels who should be stomped down to protect unity,
         which wasn't bothered by legal niceties that weren't written yet,
         or the pro-independence position that free people don't need to rebel,
         they can simply secede, in which case the Confederacy was a foreign
         country that the Union Army was invading, and P.C. wouldn't have 
applied
         even if it had been written by then.

Back in the 60s, during the race riots, it was pretty common to have
National Guard troops on the streetcorners to intimidate blacks.
Even in Wilmington, Delaware.  Sometimes they were also used on
student protestors.  Not the kind of thing you'd expect in a free country,
but this was America.