Essays on Posse Comitatus

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The US Constitution allows Congress the power to deploy the ‘militia’ with the objective of “executing the laws of the Union, suppress insurrections and repel invasions.” In addition, it ensures that the states are protected against aggression to overthrow the “republican government” and, upon the request of the state government, against civil disturbances. These constitutional tenets are seen in the 1807 Insurrection Act prior to and after the adoption of 1878 Posse Comitatus Act. The latter bans the deliberate engagement of any component of the Army or the Air Force unless allowed by the ambit of Congress ...

The Posse Comitatus Act concerns the Insurrection Act established in 1807. Purposely, the act was designed to ensure that the federal government powers are limited when it comes to the federal military personnel. Notably, it is essential that the law enforces the various domestic policies only within the US borders. Arguably, it can be held that the jurisdiction displayed in the act tend to bar the U.S. military from achieving the international status. It makes no sense that the military is allowed to intervene in international matters yet they are limited from performing the same on domestic operations. Certainly, ...

Posse Comitatus is a Latin term that translates to ‘Power of the County’ in reference to the period in time when sheriffs could recruit able-bodied males above 15 years of age to help keep public order. The Posse Comitatus Act of 1878 was initially enacted to minimize the influence of federal troops on domestic affairs as well as prevent the possibility of having the military under civilian control. Prior to the enactment of the Act, the use of federal troops to maintain order in the various States was an accepted feature for example, the federal troops were used to ...