In December of 2011, the House of Representatives and the Senate passed and sent on to the president bill number S1867. The president has signed this bill into law.
The main purpose of this bill was to fund the military for another year, but also in this bill were sections (1031 and 1032) that had language that allows the military to arrest anyone (even American citizens) and to detain them for as long as they want. They do not need to make any charges against the person arrested, and the person is not allowed to contact a lawyer or anyone else. The arrested person just disappears much like people have done for years in places like China, Iraq and Libya. This is very similar to being under martial law.
In the law, it says:
“UNITED STATES CITIZENS- The requirement to detain a person in military custody under this section does not extend to citizens of the United States.”
It says the REQUIREMENT to detain a person does not extend to American citizens, but it does NOT say that the military is prohibited from arresting Americans. This is way too much power to have in the hands of the military. It is up to someone in the military to decide whom they want to arrest. Overall, the military is a trustworthy organization, but there have been many times in the past where some individuals have crossed the line and done some things that were not in the best interest of the citizens, the military, or the country as a whole.
President Obama clearly supports this because he is the one that signed it. It is important that we find out how the Republican challengers stand on this very important issue. We must elect someone who will repeal it.
On Jan 16, 2012, there was a debate in South Carolina. You can see an excerpt from that debate here:
It appears that Mr. Romney supports the government being able to arrest people and detain them for as long as the government wants. Mr. Santorum seems to be against it, but he does not say that if he were elected president that he would see that the law is repealed. Mr. Paul has come out against it. We have not heard from Mr. Gingrigh on this very important issue.
Ever since the Constitution was signed, we have had certain rights guaranteed to us. One of those was the right to a speedy and public trial guaranteed in the 6th amendment. This law takes away that right. We now do not have the right to any trial at all. This new law is clearly unconstitutional. The senators knew that, [some made floor speeches saying it - (see Senator Kirk here) ] but they voted for it anyway.
If the citizens of the United States want this country to go back to being a free country, we need to stand up and let our representatives know that we are opposed to this country being a police state.
For more information, please look at the following websites or go to Google or some other search engine and search for S 1867 you will find out what you need to know.
http://www.infowars.com/ron-paul-defense-bill-establishes-martial-law-in-america/
Now, we need the other states to get started with this.