Season Two Research Files
Episode Eighteen
1:00am-2:00am
POSSE COMITATUS ACT
In the Reconstruction era of 1876, President Ulysses Grant sent federal troops to supervise elections in the South because of reported corruption. Congress responded with the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878, which says that the military should not be used when civilian constabulary would better serve the purposes of maintaining order and the peace. The purpose of the Act was to prohibit the misuse of the Army in civilian law enforcement, because American tradition established in our Constitution dictates the separation of the military and civilian authority.
The U.S. Coast Guard is not subject to Posse Comitatus, because it is, by definition, a law enforcement agency and is exempt from such restrictions. While it reports to the Department of Transportation, some units of the Coast Guard may be placed under the operational control of the Navy in time of war. Those units are still not subject to Posse Comitatus. Under U.S. and applicable international law, the Coast Guard has the right to stop and search any vessel of any flag on the high seas without it being construed as an act of war, which would be the case with the Navy. The National Guard is also not subject to the law because it is a state service, and Posse Comitatus only applies to forces in federal service.
The Posse Comitatus Act has been addressed after September 11th, causing lawmakers to question whether active duty military should help domestic agencies battle terrorism. There have also been debates in Congress over the use of military assets in both the "war on drugs" and in border patrol duties. The law was amended in 1981 to permit increased Department of Defense support of drug interdiction and other law enforcement activities.
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