Law and Order

POLS 1101
2/4/13

The fact of keeping law and order when it comes to terrorism is a very important, but very looked over issue. Terrorism has been around since the first attack in 1920. Most of the attacks on the United States has happened in New York. The most famous and well remembered is the attack on September 11, 2001, hijackers crashed 2 commercial jets into twin towers of World Trade Center; 2 more hijacked jets were crashed into the Pentagon and a field in rural Pa. Total dead and missing numbered 2,992, 2,749 in New York City, 184 at the Pentagon, 40 in Pa., and 19 hijackers. The Al Qaeda terrorist group was blamed and held responsible for the attack. Osama Bin Laden was the leader of this terrorist group and was ultimately punished for what he did. In 2011 Osama Bin Laden was hiding in a bunker, which was raided by an elite team of Navy Seals and shot down. This brave and heroic attack ultimately ended, or so we thought the war on terrorism. The fact of the matter is we will always have that fear of terrorists attacking huge events in the U.S. We can rest assured knowing that the FBI is risking their lives day and night protecting against another attack while we carry on with our busy, sometimes meaningless lives.
In protecting us there is a certain order that must remain in the fight. If ever it gets out of control the president can declare a national state of emergency. With this declaration comes martial law. Martial law is defined as, temporary rule by military authorities, imposed on a civilian population especially in time of war or when civil authority has broken down. Martial law has only been used on the national level once and on the regional level once in the United States.
It was used on the national level during the Civil War and on the regional level during World War 2. Martial law can be declared on the national level by Congress or the president. Under Article I, Section 8, Clause 15, of the Constitution, Congress has the power "to provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress insurrections and repel Invasions (Lowi, A16).” Article II, Section 2, Clause 1, of the Constitution declares that "the President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the United States (Lowi, A19)." Congress has never declared martial law. However, at the outset of the Civil War, in July 1861, Congress ratified most of the martial law measures declared by President Abraham Lincoln. Its martial law declaration gave the Union military forces the authority to arrest persons and conduct trials. In the movie, The Siege, we saw that it wasn’t the president that was Commander in Chief of the Army.
Martial law is very concerning to citizens everywhere. As in the movie innocent people were tortured, put in fences like caged animals, and had every single right they were ever entitled stripped away from them like they never even existed. In history at least one governor we know has used martial law to enforce state agency regulations. In 1931 Governor Ross S. Sterling, of Texas, sent Texas National troops into east Texas oil fields to force compliance with limits on the production of oil and an increase in the minimum number of acres required between oil wells. Martial law usually is used to try to restore and maintain peace during civil unrest. It does not always yield the desired results. In May 1970, for example, Ohio governor James Rhodes declared limited martial law by sending in National Guard troops to contain a Kent State University protest against the Vietnam War. Four protestors were shot and killed by the troops. In a case brought by their survivors, the Supreme Court held that the governor and other state officials could be sued if they acted beyond the scope of state laws and the federal Constitution. The book really doesn’t speak much on terrorism and keeping law and order, but I as a registered voter of the United States of America believe that in dire situations when there is civil unrest and the FBI and CIA cannot keep it under control the military should become involved. The only problem I have with this is the fact of innocent people dying and being tortured. Can we not torture everyone just because they fit into a certain group you may be looking through to find the certain person or persons that have been causing the unrest and catastrophes? It is a last resort only for martial law and should remain a last resort. A lot of times things get out of hand before they get better, so the suggestion is to give it a little time to work it out. Of course that then brings up the question of how much time is enough. It also brings up the question of what if things don’t get better. The point of knowing if things will not get better should at that point and time incorporate martial law into the POT or plan of attack. Never take for granted your safety or the life that you live. Someplace somewhere there are men and women are laying down their lives for you every single day. We must not only remember them but also we need to remember their families and what they have to go through day in and day out being without their family member. If you take what you have for granted I challenge you to try and live in their world for a week. I guarantee you’ll be a hell of a lot more appreciative of what you have in your life. Take time out of your day and just say thank you to a veteran. I bet it’ll make his day and you’ll more than likely get a smile after seeing their face light up. They’ll definitely know someone cares about them and what they’re doing for us. To finish off my thoughts on keeping law and order in terrorism I must say history has shown that our military and economic power can thwart Saddam. But in the early 1990's we let him off the hook in deference to misguided notions of stability. We saw that kind of stability in action on September 11. As long as Hussein is around, building weapons whose sole purpose is to incite global destabilization, the world can never be safe and the war on terrorism can never be won. Bin Laden and the Taliban make a nice showpiece of what U.S power coupled with resolve can do. But the Afghan war will be a hollow victory if we will fail to take the next logical step. President Obama must go all the way to Baghdad, where he will find the head of the snake. And when he finds the snake, he must not let it strike again. So once again only use martial law in dire situations if needed, if not just forget about it.

http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0001454.html#ixzz2KGZc0bPp http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/martial+law Lowi, Theodore. Ginsberg, Benjamin. Shepsle, Kenneth. Ansolabehere, Stephen,, 1990,. American Government Power and Purpose. New York, New York: W.W Norton and Company Inc.

http://www.un.org/law/cod/finterr.htm

I have abided by the Catawba College Honor Code during the preparation of this paper.