In an attempt to create a loophole in the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878, which prohibits the use of the U.S. Army to execute federal laws, passed by a post-Reconstruction Congress after the former Confederate states regained power, the new regime has created a “military defense area,” a strip of DOD property 60 feet wide and 170 miles long along the U.S. Mexican border.
Eisenhower invoked a “national emergency” under the Act by federalizing the Arkansas National Guard in Little Rock in 1957 and Kennedy did the same in Alabama in 1963. Congress authorized certain changes, but the creation of DOD property constitutes a new approach to circumvent the purpose of the act.
Some commentators raise the question if creating “DOD property” along the southern border holds, where else can such a claim be made? And what will be the impact on civil liberties of U.S. citizens?
Prayer for the Day
Standing before you, O God, we are humbled by your presence,
For although we strive to do what is required of us,
We know we fall short of our intentions and your demands;
Convicted by our acceptance of helplessness,
We know we fall short of the model of living you offer us.
We pray for renewed determination of spirit
In the name of the One who is our support,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
It is aspiring tyrants who say that “civil liberties end when an attack on our safety begins.” Conversely, leaders who wish to preserve the rule of law find other ways to speak about real terrorist threats, and do not invent them or deliberately make them worse.
Timothy D. Snyder, historian
Yet what grater defeat could we suffer than to come to resemble the forces we oppose in their disrespect for human dignity.
Ruth Bader Ginsberg, Associate Justice, U.S Supreme Court (1933-2020)
Parent of orphans and protector of widows is God in the holy habitation,
God gives to the desolate a home to live in;
And leads the prisoners out to prosperity
Psalm 68: 5-6