"Whenever the people are well-informed, they can be trusted with their own government;... whenever things get so far wrong as to attract their notice, they may be relied on to set them to rights." (Thomas Jefferson to Richard Price, 1789.)

Americans are bombarded daily with local, national and international news reports via newspapers, radio, television and even smartphone alerts.

The National Security Agency's mining of metadata from citizens' telephones, Russia's invasion of the Ukraine, the horrendous Veterans' Administration scandal during which several of this nation's heroes died while awaiting appointments at clinics, the Guantanamo Bay prisoner swap for Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, held captive five years by the Taliban – all of these stories are competing for the attention of the American public.

I like to think I am fairly well-informed on current events, not only happening locally in the community but also on a national level.

From the emails I receive, to reading newspapers and listening to and watching various news broadcasts, I try to be aware of what is happening down the block and across the globe.

I fear, however, many Americans, including myself, are becoming overwhelmed and desensitized by the constant refrain of murder, mayhem, scandal and chicanery.

Disembodied voices were coming from the television playing in the background as I sat at my computer Saturday morning reading stories for this week's Parkland Press.

The words "martial law" caught my attention.

They were spoken by Mike Huckabee, former Arkansas governor and 2008 Republican presidential candidate, who was discussing a May 28 story written by Washington Times national security columnist Bill Gertz.

Gertz's "Inside the Ring" article discusses a 2010 Pentagon directive detailing presidential authority in using this nation's military against its own citizens in cases of civil unrest when local and state authorities cannot handle the situation.

Directive No. 3025.18, "Defense Support of Civil Authorities," issued Dec. 29, 2010, appears to be in conflict with the Posse Comitatus Act, enacted in 1878.

This act prohibits the federal government from using federal military troops to enforce state laws.

The Posse Comitatus Act states: "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." 18 U.S.C. § 1385.

There have been times when Congress has approved the use the use of armed forces to provide civilian assistance without becoming directly involved in civilian law enforcement.

Posse Comitatus does not prevent the President from using federal troops in riots or civil disorders. Federal troops were used for domestic operations more than 200 times in the two centuries from 1795 to 1995. Most of these operations were to enforce the law, and many of them were to enforce state law rather than federal law.

In recent years, several laws have been enacted that grant specific exceptions to the application of the Posse Comitatus Act.

Title 18 U.S. Code, Section 831, provides if nuclear material is involved in an emergency, the Secretary of Defense may provide assistance to the Department of Justice, notwithstanding Posse Comitatus.

According to Gertz, The troubling aspect of the directive outlines presidential authority for the use of military arms and forces, including unarmed drones, in operations against domestic unrest."

"This appears to be the latest step in the administration 's decision to use force within the United States against its citizens," said a defense official opposed to the directive.

"Federal military forces shall not be used to quell civil disturbances unless specifically authorized by the president in accordance with applicable law or permitted under emergency authority," the directive states.

"In these circumstances, those federal military commanders have the authority, in extraordinary emergency circumstances where prior authorization by the president is impossible and duly constituted local authorities are unable to control the situation, to engage temporarily in activities that are necessary to quell large-scale, unexpected civil disturbances" under two conditions.

The conditions include military support needed "to prevent significant loss of life or wanton destruction of property and are necessary to restore governmental function and public order." A second use is when federal, state and local authorities "are unable or decline to provide adequate protection for federal property or federal governmental functions."

"Federal action, including the use of federal military forces, is authorized when necessary to protect the federal property or functions," the directive states.

Military assistance can include loans of arms, ammunition, vessels and aircraft. The directive states clearly that it is for engaging civilians during times of unrest.

The two conditions set forth to utilize the military in a domestic situation are "to prevent significant loss of life or wanton destruction of property and are necessary to restore governmental function and public order."

The second condition states military support can be provided if civilian authorities "are unable or decline to provide adequate protection for federal property or federal government functions."

Posse Comitatus has been suspended several times in this (20th) century, including the use of federal troops to end the rioting in Chicago in 1919, against the Bonus Marchers in Washington, DC in 1932, and under the Truman administration when a railroad workers strike was ended by nationalizing the railroads and placing them temporarily under the Army Corps of Engineers.' In addition, there is the Stafford Act, 42 U.S.C., Section 5121, which allows federal troops to be deployed in times of natural disaster at the request of a governor, as President Bush requested of Governor Blanco. Under this Act a president may declare a major disaster and send in forces on an emergency basis for up to 10 days to preserve life and property.

the deployment of over 10,000 troops to the 1996 Olympic venues in Atlanta under the 'partial rationale that they were present to deter terrorism' then notes that

A U.S. official said the Obama administration considered but rejected deploying military force under the directive during the recent standoff with Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy and his armed supporters.

Mr. Bundy is engaged in a legal battle with the federal Bureau of Land Management over unpaid grazing fees. Along with a group of protesters, Mr. Bundy in April confronted federal and local authorities in a standoff that ended when the authorities backed down.

The Pentagon directive authorizes the secretary of defense to approve the use of unarmed drones in domestic unrest. But it bans the use of missile-firing unmanned aircraft.

The directive was signed by then-Deputy Defense Secretary William J. Lynn. A copy can be found on the Pentagon website: http://www.dtic.mil/whs/directives/corres/pdf/302518p.pdf.

Deb Palmieri

editor

Parkland Press

Northwestern Press