Marines Establish Military Presence in California - DUI attorneys outraged!

Branson Hunter, writing for the Big Bear Observation Post blog, reports that the Marine Corps Air and Ground Combat Center (MCAGCC) and the local California Highway Patrol will be working together over the holiday “in a joint effort to reduce accidents and drinking and driving” in San Bernardino County.

At the end of this video from CNN the Army Times denies that they will be involved in civil unrest, but that is what was on their website before the citizens of San Bernardino County cried out, at which time the MCAGCC removed it from their site.

Gary Daigneault, Talk Back Show, 107.7 F.M, discussed the ramifications of this joint effort today. Mr. Daigneault and his callers seemed to be very concerned. On its face, one may think this is a good idea. But further study of the implications of the mixing of Arm forces and the police shows it’s not a good idea. I personally agree with Mr. Daigneault and his callers. The callers mostly seemed to think that this was a very bad idea. Mr. Daigneault contacted a Constitutional Law expert, and the attorney informed him this is absolutely unconstitutional. It’s NOT permitted under the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878, 8 U.S.C. § 1385. It’s also my understanding that the Constitutional Law expert said that CHP officers could be arrested since working with the Military Police is a felony.

Many of his Mr. Daigneault callers vocalized that this joint effort or mutual cooperation between the military and the CHP is going to be very intimidating. They (as I) are very concerned that CHP is going through with this action anyway. At this time, it’s not really clear what the specific role the Military Police will be taking part in. Their contribution could be to assist; or to observe; or to train; or to make a strong military presence; or to take charge of military offenders detained by the CHP? Nevertheless, whatever the Military Police capacity will be, it’s unconstitutional and it’s a felony.

I contacted the Morongo CHP office. The dispatcher said the program will be in effect tonight. When I asked where was it going to be taking place. She responded by telling me to call back tonight after 7:00 P.M. I politely protested since DUI check stops are suppose to be public. She then informed me that I had to speak with the CHP Public Affairs officer after seven. A call to the CHP Public Affairs Officer’s number after seven got a recorded message to call from 9-5 during business hours. Query: Now why was I told to call at 7:00 pm?

By the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878, 20 Stat. 152, 18 U.S.C. § 1385, it was provided that “it shall NOT (emphasis added) be lawful to employ any part of the Army of the United States, as a posse comitatus, or otherwise, for the purpose of executing the laws, except in such cases and under such circumstances as such employment of said force may be expressly authorized by the Constitution or by act of Congress.” The effect of this prohibition, however, was largely nullified by a ruling of the Attorney General “that by Revised Statutes 5298 and 5300 [10 U.S.C. §§ 332, 334] the military forces, under the direction of the President, could be used to assist a marshal. 16 Ops. Atty. Gen. 162.” B. RICH, THE PRESIDENTS AND CIVIL DISORDER 196 n.21 (1941).

Its little encroachments like this that undermines the Constitution. One day you wake up, and your rights are gone. I can see numerous scenarios during those DUI check stops. To name a few: The Military Police go to the aid of the CHP to take down a civilian bad guy, a drunken teen, unruly tweakers. Will the Military Police be armed? Do they have any sort orders of engagements?

Dispatching Marines on California highways is an obvious violation of the Posse Comitatus Act (18 U.S.C. § 1385) passed on June 16, 1878. The Act prohibits members of the federal uniformed services, including military police, from working with state and local police and law enforcement.

However, since September 11, 2001, the federal government has increasingly ignored Posse Comitatus. On October 1, 2008, the U.S. Army announced its 3rd Infantry Division’s 1st Brigade Combat Team will be under the day-to-day control of the Northern Command, ostensibly “on call” to respond to emergencies and disasters.

It is not explained how assisting in traffic accidents falls within the purview of Homeland Security and the military. It appears that the Marines are using this very pretense in San Bernardino County to cut down of traffic accidents, a task normally reserved for local law enforcement.

On December 1, the Washington Post reported that the “U.S. military expects to have 20,000 uniformed [rapid reaction] troops inside the United States by 2011 trained to help state and local officials respond to a nuclear terrorist attack or other domestic catastrophe, according to Pentagon officials. The Pentagon admitted that this move represented a long-planned shift in the Defense Department’s role in homeland security. Never mind the obvious violation of the Posse Comitatus Act. But the Bush administration and some in Congress have pushed for a heightened homeland military role since the middle of this decade, saying the greatest domestic threat is terrorists exploiting the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

The Marines, supposedly assisting the California Highway Patrol, is part of this effort as well and is designed by the Pentagon and Homeland Security to get citizens accustomed to seeing the military presence out there on the street. It dovetails with FEMA’s so-called Clergy Response Teams trained by the federal government to quell dissent and pacify citizens to obey the government after a declaration of martial law (see Feds Train Clergy To “Quell Dissent” During Martial Law). Hurricane Katrina played a part in this emerging long-standing plan when police and National Guard patrols forced home owners to hand over their legally owned firearms at gunpoint.

I was foaming at the mouth in my outrage that the Marines would have an armed, uniformed presence at, and assisting with, these internal checkpoints [suspicionless liberty infringemets that Justice Thomas has opined the Framers would not have tolerated], and I am even more distressed that the public is not more up in arms about the intermingling of military with civilian law enforcement for internal “order.” One sees that in Central and South American “Banana Republics,” but it is so inimical to what this Republic is all about that any president who orders or allows such should be impeached. The community needs to speak out loudly in dissent, or the silence will be deemed assent.