Illegal Law Enforcement: Aiding Civil Authorities in Violation of the Posse Comitatus Act
![handle is hein.journals/milrv70 and id is 87 raw text is: ILLEGAL LAW ENFORCEMENT:
AIDING CIVIL AUTHORITIES
IN VIOLATION OF THE
POSSE COMITATUS ACT*
Major Clarence I. Meeks III, USMC**
Here, then is one of the paramount principles for which the
Revolutionary War was fought; soldiers, needed and
honored in war for the valor and strength that turns back
the nation's enemies, are never to be used against their
civilian countrymen, no matter how expedient their
utilization might seem.1
I. INTRODUCTION
The Posse Comitatus Act provides ample reason for military
commanders to prohibit their subordinates from performing civil
law enforcement missions:
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 not more than $10,000 or imprisoned not more than two years, or
both.2
At the same time the press has been questioning whether com-
manders diligently comply with the dictates of the Act,3 the courts
have been issuing warnings to the military establishment. In 1972
*This article is an adaptation of a thesis presented to The Judge Advocate General's
School, U.S. Army, Charlottesville, Virginia, while the author was a member of the
Twenty-third Judge Advocate Officer Advanced Class. The opinions and con-
clusions expressed herein are those of the author and do not necessarily represent
the views of The Judge Advocate General's School or any other governmental agen-
cy.
**Judge Advocate, United States Marine Corps; Staff Judge Advocate, Marine
Corps Air Station, Beaufort, S.C. B.A_, 1960, Auburn University;J.D., 1970, Univer-
sity of South Carolina. Member of the Bars of South Carolina, the U.S. Court of
Military Appeals and the U.S. Supreme Court.
1Engdahl, Soldiers, Riots, and Revolution: The Law of Military Troops in Civil
Disorders, 57 IOWA L. REV. 1, 28 (1971) [hereinafter cited as Engdahl].
218 U.S.C. § 1385 (1970).
3See, e.g., Washington Post, Feb. 4, 1972, at Cl, col. 3; Daily Progress
(Charlottesville, Va.), Oct. 10, 1974, at A9, col. 1.](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/milrv70&div=5&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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Illegal Law Enforcement: Aiding Civil Authorities in Violation of the Posse Comitatus Act
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