Changes to the Insurrection Act

The Insurrection Act is made up of five sections of Title 10 of the United States Code (Entitled Armed Forces). The Sections are 331 through 335.

The changes to the Act, made via the Warner 2007 Defense Authorization Bill, drafted in 2006, are not that significant. What is significant is the the original Act. The Insurrection Act of 1807 is a notable exception to the Posse Comitatus Act, which reads simply:

Sec. 1385. - Use of Army and Air Force as posse comitatus

Whoever, except in cases and under circumstances expressly authorized by the Constitution or Act of Congress, willfully uses any part of the Army or the Air Force as a posse comitatus or otherwise to execute the laws shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than two years, or both.

The Warner 2007 Defense Authorization Bill made the following changes (Sections not mentioned were not changed).

Old Title: "Insurrection"
New Title: "Enforcement of the Laws to Restore Public Order."

Old Section 333: Limited the military to "suppressing" "insurrection, domestic violence, unlawful combination, or conspiracy". Basically, once the violence is over, the feds leave.
New Section 333: Expands the military rights to a more open-ended role to "restore public order and enforce the laws of the United States" for the things cited above, plus "a natural disaster, epidemic, or other serious public health emergency, terrorist attack or incident, or other condition", where "other conditions" remain consistent with old law except that the words "or possession" are inserted to complement the law's application to states. Note how this expansion relates to new language in Section 334.

New Section 333 adds a requirement for the President to notify Congress of his use of this authority and report every 14 days.

Section 334, cited in full below, with new language in bold.

Whenever the President considers it necessary to use the militia or the armed forces under this chapter, he shall, by proclamation, immediately order the insurgents or those obstructing the enforcement of the laws to disperse and retire peaceably to their abodes within a limited time.

CLICK HERE for a side-by-side comparison of the old and new versions of the Insurrection Act.

Internal Tags:

Insurrection Act of 1807
How it was changed
differences
old version new
how old and new versions vary
changes made
law before and after changes
Title 10 U.S.C. USC US United States Code Section 331 132 133 134 335
Subtitle A
Part 1
Chapter 15

Sources:

Cornell Law School US Code Collection Sections 131 - 135.

Wikipedia, Insurrection Act, Posse Comitatus Act.

What if George Bush Declared Martial Law?

Jane Smiley asks how could Bush actually subdue Americans if he were to declare Martial Law?:

One day, we were supposed to wake up, and martial law would be declared, and we were supposed to actually pay attention to it? Where are they keeping the troops who were going to patrol our neighborhoods? Who was it who was going to disarm the population? Who was their base going to be, when they sought public support for martial law? Who was going to round us up and where were they going to put us?

Glad someone is asking. It's also good to see a very healthy response from readers, over 350 comments.

Some of the Comments:

Appropriately, the first comment was,

"The first thing to go will be the internet." - elmcorners

Then, someone pointed out the Blackwater brown shirts, Bush's pretorian gaurd:

To address the question "where would the troops come from" since they're all in Iraq or sitting in their own shit at Walter Reed, this is where Blackwater comes in. Are there sufficient numbers to control the entire country..of course not. But, there are enough of these redneck, uneducated, testosterone ladden inbreeds to cause much disruption. - halsey

Would the local authorities fall in line? Dissent? Split? Here's one prediction:

Local police would gear up in their ski masks and military like outfits and await their leaders orders. I believe Americans, including myself, would take to the streets. - Michigan

He's not the only one prepared:

I've been expecting him to pull something like this since 2000. So has everyoe in my family. We're prepared. - vurz

And the requisite Orwell quote:

The lessons of Orwell's 1984 were not lost on the neocons: brook no dissent, suppress truth, use brutality and threat of torture, control the media; create a complete dissociation between reality and the approved myth of the Benevolent Leader. Put TVs everywhere.

So far, so good. - fairwitness

Some advice to dacoyle, you better plan ahead:

If Bush declared martial law, I would give thanks that my complaints about the NRA had come to nothing. Then I would go out and buy a gun. - dacoyle

Buy that gun before the clampdown. MomMadonna did:

This is why this peacenik woman has kept up her shooting skills and owns a personal arm. - MomMadonna

Then, there's the counter-intuitive thinker:

as bizarre as it sounds, maybe a declaration of martial law is precisely what it is going to take to finally shake our citizens out of their slumber and force these criminals from office... the white house occupants would be replaced in a matter of days...

Maybe... we can hope. Then, there's the cynic dashing that hope:

Those opposing Martial Law would sit around slinging abuse at those who support it, and vice versa. Ultimately you'd do nothing but moan a little before getting on with your lives.

You are American.

Unforturnately, that sounds all too familiar to me, echoed with examples here:

What would we do about it? Nothing, What have we done about the Patriot Act, eavesdropping, illegal detention of prisoners, the invasion of Iraq, the false justification behind the authorization for this war, the obvious build up of an imminent conflict with Iran?

You've probably heard what comes at the end of this too:

Well, let's see, they federalize the Nat'l Guard, the State Police, the country Sheriff, and the local police. They issue a curfew for 6pm with shoot to kill orders for anyone out after that time. Wow, that is funny. What's REALLY funny is what they did just before issuing the martial law order...cancel the 2008 elections. Hardy, har, har.

I guess this reader didn't take too kindly to Jane Smiley's sentiment that martial law under Bush would be a joke. Then there's someone who's better versed than they think:

I am not well versed on these things but it seems to me that the kind of martial law envisioned by BushCo is less a country-wide affair and more a targeted approach designed to stifle dissent of the kind we saw last year when immigrants took to the streets in massive numbers. - Litz

Yes. Crack-down on a minority (Litz inserts: dark-skinned people, immigrants, hippies, war protestors, etc.). The joint task forces are getting plenty of practice conducting raids on the immigrants, recently in San Francisco.

Then there is the serious, honest conservative:

What Would You Do If Bush Declared Martial Law?

I asked myself that very question last fall when I chose to reenlist rather then retire. I will submit my retirement papers as a form of protest. Other then that, I have not yet decided. I do believe every patriot ought to be considering their potential responses and preparing their resources to ensure they are free to act upon whichever decision they may make. - Radical Republican (Mike)

Nice to know that we've got conservatives on "our side." Then there's the pragmatic economic angle, there always is. But this time with an edge of dissent:

How disruptive to business would martial law be? Let's say that I wouldn't go shopping. here are lots of ways to express dissent besides protesting in the streets or signing petitions. How about slow downs? Just not pay the bills on time. I mean, to hell with the credit cards and playing 'good taxpayer'. - gro

You go gro!

Here's a creepy one, in more than one way:

Nothing is illegal to these thugs that currently have our nation in a choke hold. Who will round up the Americans, you ask? Speculation has it, it will be the literally millions of the south/central american/mexican paramilitary gangs that have inundated our country.

Then, there's the harsh reality of families further torn appart:

My Brother is in National Guard. He Informed me years ago,he thinks. We SHOULD be under Martial Law.

There's the person who has moved out of the US because of Bush, the person who has noticed the MSM's ratcheted rhetoric on al-Qaida

Then, there's the hope of a military coup... against Bush:

I too believe that the US military, by and large, would resist such obviously illegal orders.

Probably shouldn't pin too much on hope.

These are the highlights from only two of fifteen pages of comments.

Update:

According to a post on Slashdot entitled Bush Signs Bill Enabling Martial Law a revision of the Insurrection Act (10 U.S.C.331 -335) gives Bush new authorities that may override the Posse Comitatus Act (18 U.S.C.1385). The Posse Comitatus Act places strict prohibitions on military involvement in domestic law enforcement.

See more from Frank Morales piece, October 26, 2006, that appeared on the Toward Freedom web site.

That would be praetorian guard
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