Elizabeth Goitein

That is the law that prohibits fascism.

federal armed forces from engaging in law enforcement activities unless expressly authorized by a statute or by the Constitution.

And an inherent constitutional power, by definition, is not an express power.

And the types of activities that the military would be doing in a protective function, such as security patrols, crowd control,

riot control, these are all things that the Department of Defense has long recognized constitute law enforcement activities that require an express exception under the Posse Comitatus Act.

Absolutely.

The principle...

That the military should not act as a domestic police force goes back centuries, all the way to the Magna Carta.

So even though the Posse Comitatus Act was passed in 1878, the principle that it enshrines is a core American value, and it is reflected in society.

The allocation of powers between Congress and the president in the Constitution when it regards the military.

And it's really baked into our nation's DNA.

I think that's the best way to put it.

And I think the reason for it is obvious.

If a leader can turn the army inward against the people...

That can be a very powerful instrument of tyranny and oppression.

And at a minimum, it can shill the exercise of the rights that the people have.

The fact that people have been calling these stops Kavanaugh stops seems to have gotten to Justice Kavanaugh.

And in a subsequent decision, he, in a footnote, went to great lengths to say that, in fact, race cannot on its own be a basis for law enforcement investigatory activity.

And that appeared to be a way to try to walk back what he had said previously, at least to some extent.

The Insurrection Act is the primary exception to the Posse Comitatus Act.