TO: Students in CJ 50-005
FROM: R. B. Taylor
DATE:
RE:
Posse Comitatus
Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld signed an authorization yesterday
that permits the use of militaryreconnaissance aircraft in the DC area. The hope
is that this equipment will improve their chances of catching the Serial Sniper
currently operating in the DC area. The plane to be used has sophisticated night
vision equipment. It will be flown by military personnel, but civilian law
enforcement officers will be doing the “analysis and follow up” according to
the Washington Post (Vogel, 2002).
In 1876, Rutherford Hayes won the election by one electoral vote. The
votes of three southern states were debated. Federal troops were present in
southern states to support state governments, and troops were used for federal
marshals to use at the polls (Note 1997). Congress thought the military had been
“misused” in this election, and passed the Posse Comitatus Act (PCA) in 1878
(Note 1997). The PCA is part of the criminal code although no one has
ever been prosecuted under this statute.
Whoever, except in
cases and under circumstances expressly authorized by the Constitution or Act of
Congress, willfully uses any part of the Army or the Air Force as a posse
comitatus or otherwise to execute the laws shall be fined under this title or
imprisoned not more than two years, or both (Legal Information Institute, 2002).
The plane to be used is an RC-7B surveillance aircraft, that
operationally looks just like a commuter prop plane. It has been used against
drug smuggling operations in Central and
For example, one of its readouts “shows targets on a map background,
with those moving towards the aircraft displayed as red dots and those moving
away as green dots. A target that stops moving will remain on the display for
three minutes and then disappear” (Goebel, 2002).
It also can intercept telecommunication traffic.
Some legal scholars have expressed increasing worry about the blurring of
the separation between the military and civilian law enforcement (Note, 1997).
Following the
Some questions to think about. * What are the advantages of augmenting civilian law enforcement with military capabilities? * Do you think these advantages are needed in this case? * Are there any potential disadvantages to involving the military in a case like this? * Do you think this is setting a good or a bad “legal precedent?” * Suppose the surveillance feed, either video or telecom, finds evidence of another crime in progress, or provides evidence that allows local authorities to apprehend someone? Should that be used?
References
Goebel, G. (2002) “The
RC-7/7B ARL/ARLM” [ONLINE: http://www.vectorsite.net/avbtsv2.html.
Retrieved:
Legal Information Institute. [ONLINE: http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/18/1385.html;
retrieved
Note (1997). The Posse Comitatus Act: A Principle in need of renewal.
Vogel, S. (