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1 December  2008 ,The Real News Network

WASHINGTON  - Bruce Fein: Army to deal with potential domestic "civil unrest and crowd control"

Civil liberty groups within the U.S. are expressing concern about the federal government's preparations for potential domestic emergency situations.  As of October the U.S. government has deployed a full army brigade to be on duty to deal with civil unrest and crowd control.  The Real News spoke to American Freedom Project founder, Bruce Fein to discuss the constitutional significance of these preparations.

According to Fein the central concern revolves around a provision made to the Posse Comitatus Act, "which makes it a crime to use the military for domestic law enforcement unless congress has expressly authorized an exception to that prohibition."  He says a provision sponsored by Sen. John Warner has created a giant loophole within the act that "basically endows the President with authority at his own unilateral discretion, to decide that he will use the military anytime he wishes for domestic law enforcement purposes."

Fein sees this loophole and the deployment of a U.S domestic army as an infringement on the constitution.  He comments on how such directives are being discussed and implemented in private without public knowledge. "It's outrageous in my judgement that these ideas or plans for a "continuitive" government...should occur in secret."
 
 

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