#posse-comitatus-act

#posse-comitatus-act

In a just United States, yesterday's ruling from Judge Charles Breyer that the government violated the Posse Comitatus Act by invading Los Angeles would result in Whiskey Pete Hegseth landing in prison for two years. That's the punishment for committing the crime of violating the PCA. And Breyer's opinion clearly implicates Hegseth, personally, in breaking the law in two ways.

The Posse Comitatus Act is a nearly 150-year-old federal law that limits the U.S. military's role in enforcing domestic laws. At its core, experts say the law reflects America's long-standing belief that law enforcement should remain in civilian hands, separate from military power. President Donald Trump has tested the law's limits in the first few months of his second term, as he expands the footprint of the U.S. military on domestic soil.

(AP Photo/Alex Brandon) A federal judge has ruled that President Donald Trump and his Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth violated federal law when they deployed thousands of federalized California National Guard members and U.S. Marines to bolster immigration enforcement in Los Angeles. US District Judge Charles Breyer found in a 52-page ruling on Tuesday that the Trump administration breached the Posse Comitatus Act, a law dating back to 1878 that bars the military from domestic policing.

Trump stated, "If it's a national emergency, we can do it without Congress. I think the Republicans in Congress will approve this pretty much unanimously."

"This is the first time this has ever happened that the National Guard has been used to support immigration enforcement and deportation operations within the interior of the country," Joseph Nunn, who is counsel in the Brennan Center's Liberty and National Security Program, told Truthout.

Respect for the military's role is crucial for our democracy. That is why the law is designed to ensure that our armed forces are not politicized or misused... Tyrants use the military as a pawn to solidify power, put down protests, and arrest opponents.

"Assigning resources toward immigration enforcement risks blurring this crucial distinction and setting a concerning precedent for the use of military installations for purposes beyond their intended scope."