Recently, there has been a significant and growing public discourse on the subject of the appropriate role of the military in the civilian affairs of the United States. Much of the debate has come on the heels of hurricane Katrina and the catastrophic governmental failure to protect U.S. citizens from harm, much of it preventable. President Bush has suggested more than once since the disaster that Congress should examine the law, commonly known as the Posse Comitatus Act, which, in most cases, prevents the use of the military in a law enforcement capacity.
Recently, there has been a significant and growing public discourse on the subject of the appropriate role of the military in the civilian affairs of the United States. Much of the debate has come on the heels of hurricane Katrina and the catastrophic governmental failure to protect U.S. citizens from harm, much of it preventable. President Bush has suggested more than once since the disaster that Congress should examine the law, commonly known as the Posse Comitatus Act,[i] which, in most cases, prevents the use of the military in a law enforcement capacity.
[i] 18 U.S. Code 1385.
