Editing Posse Comitatus Act (section)

==History==
The Act, § 15 of the appropriations bill for the Army for 1879 (found at {{USStat|20|152}}) was a response to, and subsequent prohibition of, the [[military occupation]] of the former [[Confederate States of America|Confederate States]] by the [[United States Army]] during the twelve years of [[Reconstruction Era|Reconstruction]] (1865–1877) following the [[American Civil War]] (1861–1865).

The [[United States Constitution|U.S. Constitution]] places primary responsibility for the holding of [[election]]s in the hands of the individual states. The maintenance of peace, conduct of orderly elections, and prosecution of unlawful actions are all state responsibilities, according to any state's role of exercising police power and maintaining law and order, whether part of a wider federation or a unitary state.<ref name="Military Law Review">{{cite journal |url= https://www.jagcnet.army.mil/DOCLIBS/MILITARYLAWREVIEW.NSF/20a66345129fe3d885256e5b00571830/47c2b664085060fc85256e5b00576e6e/$FILE/Volume175Felicetti.pdf |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140427010627/https://www.jagcnet.army.mil/DOCLIBS/MILITARYLAWREVIEW.NSF/20a66345129fe3d885256e5b00571830/47c2b664085060fc85256e5b00576e6e/$FILE/Volume175Felicetti.pdf |url-status= dead |archive-date= April 27, 2014 |title=The Posse Comitatus Act: Setting the record straight on 124 years of mischief and misunderstanding before any more damage is done |journal= [[Military Law Review]] |volume=175 |year=2003| via= jagcnet.army.mil}}</ref> However, in the former Confederate States, many paramilitary groups sought to suppress, often through intimidation and violence, African-American political power and return the South to rule by the predominantly white Democratic Party. Although African Americans were initially supported by the federal government, as Reconstruction went on, that support waned.<ref name="Foner">{{cite book| last= Foner |first= Eric |title= Reconstruction: America's Unfinished Revolution, 1863-1877 |date=2011 |publisher= Harper |isbn=9780062035868}}</ref> Following the bitterly disputed [[1876 United States presidential election|1876 U.S. presidential election]] and [[Compromise of 1877]], [[United States House of Representatives|Congressmen]] and [[United States Senate|Senators]] from the former Confederate States returned to Washington and prioritized prohibiting the federal government from reimposing control over their states.<ref name="CRS">{{cite web |url=https://fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/R42659.pdf |last=Elsea |first=Jennifer K. |title=The Posse Comitatus Act and Related Matters: The Use of the Military to Execute Civilian Law |date=November 6, 2018 |work= fas.org |publisher= Congressional Research Service, [[Federation of American Scientists]] |access-date=June 3, 2020}}</ref> After President Hayes used federal troops to end the [[Great Railroad Strike of 1877]], there was sufficient bipartisan support to pass what became the Posse Comitatus Act.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.wbur.org/radioboston/2018/04/06/april-6-2018-rb |title=Week In Review |work= [[WBUR]].org |date=April 6, 2018 |access-date=September 29, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1111/wusa.12216 |title= Crushing Strikes through the U.S. Military, 1875-1915 |year=2015 |last1=Gronowicz |first1=Anthony |journal= [[Journal of Labor and Society|Working USA]] |volume=18 |issue=4 |pages=629–648}}</ref><ref name="CRS"/>

The original Posse Comitatus Act referred exclusively to the United States Army. The [[United States Air Force|Air Force]], established during the 20th century initially as a branch of the Army, was added in 1956. The [[United States Navy|Navy]] and [[United States Marine Corps|Marine Corps]] were not mentioned in the Act but were subject to the same restrictions by [[United States Department of Defense|Department of Defense]] regulation until their inclusion in the act in 2021.<ref name="CRS"/><ref name="nyt">{{cite news |last1=Mazzetti |first1=Mark |last2=Johnston |first2=David |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/25/us/25detain.html |title=Bush Weighed Using Military in Arrests |newspaper=The New York Times |date=June 22, 2009}}</ref> The Space Force, established in 2020, was also included in the Act in 2021. The [[United States Coast Guard]] is not included in the act even though it is part of the six armed services as it is explicitly given federal law enforcement authority on [[Admiralty law|maritime law]].<ref name="EWAE">{{cite web|title=The Case for Space: A Legislative Framework for an Independent United States Space Force |url=https://media.defense.gov/2020/Feb/12/2002248561/-1/-1/0/WF_73_GRANT_NEIL_THE_CASE_FOR_SPACE_A_LEGISLATIVE_FRAMEWORK_FOR_AN_INDEPENDENT_UNITED_STATES_SPACE_FORCE.PDF#page=22 |first1=Dustin L. |last1= Grant |first2=Matthew J. |last2=Neil |pages=22–23 |publisher=Wright Flyer Papers |date=February 2020}}</ref> The modern Coast Guard did not exist at the time the Act became law in 1878. Its predecessor, the [[United States Revenue Cutter Service]], was primarily a customs enforcement agency and part of the [[United States Department of the Treasury]].<ref name=CGLEDET>{{cite web |url=http://www.uscg.mil/History/articles/LEDET_History.asp |title=Coast Guard Law Enforcement Detachments (LEDETs): A History |date=August 29, 2008 |publisher=United States Coast Guard |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100212070440/http://www.uscg.mil/History/articles/LEDET_History.asp |archive-date=February 12, 2010 }}</ref> In 1915, when the Revenue Cutter Service and the [[United States Lifesaving Service]] were amalgamated to form the Coast Guard, the service was both made a military branch and given federal law enforcement authority.

In the mid-20th century, the administration of President [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]] used an exception to the Posse Comitatus Act, derived from the [[Enforcement Acts]], to send federal troops into [[Little Rock, Arkansas]], during the [[Little Rock Nine|1957 school desegregation crisis]]. The Arkansas governor had opposed desegregation after the [[United States Supreme Court]] ruled in 1954 in ''[[Brown v. Board of Education]]'' that segregated public schools were unconstitutional. The Enforcement Acts, among other powers, allowed the president to call up military forces when state authorities were either unable or unwilling to suppress violence that was in opposition to the citizens' constitutional rights.<ref>{{cite book |last=Lieberman |first=Jethro |title=A Practical Companion to the Constitution: How the Supreme Court Has Ruled on Issues from Abortion to Zoning |publisher= University of California Press |year=1999 |isbn=0-520-21280-0 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/practicalcompani00lieb}}</ref>

In the summer of 2020, the [[George Floyd protests in Washington, D.C.]] generated controversy when National Guard troops were called in to suppress protests without President [[Donald Trump]]'s invoking the [[Insurrection Act of 1807|Insurrection Act]] (though he threatened to do so). One set of troops, the [[District of Columbia National Guard]], has historically operated as the equivalent of a state militia (under Title 32 of the [[United States Code]]) not subject to Posse Comitatus Act restrictions, even though it is a federal entity under the command of the President and the Secretary of the Army.<ref>{{cite web| url= https://www.lawfaremedia.org/article/can-trump-use-insurrection-act-deploy-troops-american-streets |title= Can Trump Use the Insurrection Act to Deploy Troops to American Streets?| website= lawfareblog.com| first1= Scott R. |last1= Anderson| first2= Michel | last2= Paradis | date= June 3, 2020| publisher= The Lawfare Institute| access-date= March 30, 2022}}</ref> National Guard troops from cooperative states were also called in at the request of federal agencies, some of whom were deputized as police.<ref name="barr_letter">{{cite tweet| user= KerriKupecDOJ| number= 1270487263324049410 |title= Letter from Attorney General Barr to D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser on the Trump Administration's restoration of law and order to the District| date= June 9, 2020| publisher= US Department of Justice| access-date= March 30, 2022}} This posted online a letter from then-Attorney General [[William Barr]]</ref> Attorney General [[William Barr]] cited {{UnitedStatesCodeSub|32|502|f|2|a}},<ref name="barr_letter" /> which says National Guard troops may engage in "support of operations or missions undertaken by the member's unit at the request of the President or Secretary of Defense." Saying the intent of §502 (titled "Required drills and field exercises") was to cover training exercises only, Senator [[Tom Udall]] and U.S. Representative [[Jim McGovern (American politician)|Jim McGovern]] described this as a "loophole" to circumvent Posse Comitatus Act restrictions, and introduced legislation to close it.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/trump-barr-used-loophole-deploy-national-guard-u-s-cities-ncna1236034 |title=Trump and Barr used a loophole to deploy the National Guard to U.S. cities. It's time to close it. | first1=Tom |last1= Udall | first2=Jim |last2= McGovern |website=[[NBC News]] |date=7 August 2020}}</ref>

In 2020, U.S. Representative [[Adam Schiff]] introduced an amendment to the Act to expand its coverage to include the U.S. Navy, Marine Corps, and Space Force.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Schiff |first=Adam B. |date=2020-06-22 |title=H.R.7297 - 116th Congress (2019-2020): Strengthening the Posse Comitatus Act of 2020 |url=https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-bill/7297 |access-date=2022-04-26 |website=www.congress.gov}}</ref> This amendment was eventually included in the 2022 National Defense Authorization Act.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Scott |first=Rick |date=2021-12-27 |title=S.1605 - 117th Congress (2021-2022): National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2022 |url=https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/senate-bill/1605 |access-date=2022-04-26 |website=www.congress.gov}}</ref>