Posse Comitatus Act

E583722

United States federal law statute

The Posse Comitatus Act is a U.S. federal law that generally prohibits the use of the Army and Air Force for domestic law enforcement, reinforcing the separation between military and civilian authority.

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All labels observed (2)

Label	Occurrences
Posse Comitatus Act canonical	1
Posse Comitatus Act of 1878	1

Statements (46)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	United States federal law ⓘ statute ⓘ
allowsException	actions expressly authorized by an Act of Congress ⓘ actions expressly authorized by the U.S. Constitution ⓘ
amendedToInclude	United States Air Force NERFINISHED ⓘ
appliesTo	United States Air Force NERFINISHED ⓘ United States Army NERFINISHED ⓘ
citedIn	U.S. debates on military involvement in border security ⓘ U.S. debates on military response to civil disturbances ⓘ
codifiedInSection	18 U.S.C. § 1385 ⓘ
country	United States of America ⓘ surface form: United States
doesNotApplyTo	National Guard under state authority NERFINISHED ⓘ state defense forces ⓘ
doesNotDirectlyApplyTo	United States Marine Corps NERFINISHED ⓘ United States Navy NERFINISHED ⓘ United States Space Force NERFINISHED ⓘ
enactmentDate	1878-06-18 ⓘ
enforcedBy	United States Department of Justice NERFINISHED ⓘ
hasBeenAmended	yes ⓘ
historicalContext	post-Reconstruction era in the United States ⓘ
influencedApplicationOf	United States Marine Corps NERFINISHED ⓘ United States Navy NERFINISHED ⓘ United States Space Force NERFINISHED ⓘ
interpretedBy	United States federal courts NERFINISHED ⓘ
jurisdiction	United States government ⓘ surface form: federal government of the United States
language	English ⓘ
legalDomain	constitutional law ⓘ criminal law ⓘ military law ⓘ
motivatedBy	concerns about federal troops enforcing laws in former Confederate states ⓘ
originallyEnactedAs	Section 15 of the Army Appropriations Act of 1878 NERFINISHED ⓘ
prohibits	use of the U.S. Air Force to execute domestic laws except where expressly authorized by the Constitution or Congress ⓘ use of the U.S. Army to execute domestic laws except where expressly authorized by the Constitution or Congress ⓘ
purpose	to limit the use of the U.S. Army in domestic law enforcement ⓘ to reinforce the separation between military and civilian authority in the United States ⓘ
reinforcesPrinciple	civilian control of the military ⓘ separation between military and civilian authority ⓘ
relatedTo	Insurrection Act of 1807 NERFINISHED ⓘ civil-military relations in the United States ⓘ domestic law enforcement ⓘ military support to civil authorities ⓘ
shortTitle	Posse Comitatus Act NERFINISHED ⓘ
signedBy	Rutherford B. Hayes NERFINISHED ⓘ
violationPenalty	fine under Title 18 of the United States Code ⓘ imprisonment under Title 18 of the United States Code ⓘ
yearEnacted	1878 ⓘ

Referenced by (2)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

United States national security law → keyStatute → Posse Comitatus Act ⓘ

Presidency of Rutherford B. Hayes → significantEvent → Posse Comitatus Act ⓘ

this entity surface form: Posse Comitatus Act of 1878