ACLU questions Army unit’s NorthCom role

ACLU questions Army unit’s NorthCom role - Navy News, opinions, editorials, news from Iraq, photos, reports - Navy Times

The American Civil Liberties Union is questioning the use of an
active Army brigade as an on-call federal response force within the
U.S., arguing that the military is barred from any role in civilian law
enforcement and that the force could be used to help the Pentagon
conduct domestic surveillance.

On Tuesday, the ACLU filed Freedom
of Information Act requests with the Pentagon and Department of Justice
asking for “any and all records” related to the decision to align the
unit under U.S. Northern Command, which is responsible for homeland
defense of the U.S., and the “ongoing and possible use” of the unit,
“including but not limited to contemplated functions; duties;
surveillance activities; and relationship to existing civilian agencies
or personnel or the National Guard.”

The ACLU FOIA request cites a Sept. 30 Army Times online story,
“3rd Infantry’s 1st BCT trains for a new dwell-time mission,” and a
U.S. Army North news release, as its sources for the information.

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The assignment, the ACLU said, “raises important
questions about the longstanding separation between civilian and
military government within the United States — a separation that dates
to the nation’s founding and that has been reiterated in landmark
statutes, most importantly, the Posse Comitatus Act.”