PRINTER'S NO. 1586
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
SENATE BILL
No.
1150
Session of
2015
INTRODUCED BY FOLMER, MARCH 7, 2016
REFERRED TO INTERGOVERNMENTAL OPERATIONS, MARCH 7, 2016
AN ACT
Prohibiting the Commonwealth, its political subdivisions and
certain persons from assisting the armed forces of the United
States in the investigation, arrest, prosecution or
indefinite detention without charge or trial of any person
within the United States under certain Federal laws; and
imposing duties on the Attorney General and the Secretary of
the Commonwealth.
The General Assembly finds and declares as follows:
(1) The Constitution of the United States secures and
protects our individual rights and freedoms and forms the
foundation and basis of our constitutional republic.
(2) For the first time in our nation's history, the
National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012
(Public Law 112-81, 125 Stat. 1298) codifies indefinite
military detention of civilians captured far from any
battlefield without charge or trial, which law violates the
Constitution of the United States and corrodes our nation's
commitment to the rule of law, a commitment which generations
have fought to preserve.
(3) There is substantial public debate and uncertainty
as to whether sections 1021 and 1022 of the National Defense
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Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012 (Public Law 112-81,
125 Stat. 1562 and 1563) could be read to repeal the Posse
Comitatus Act (20 Stat. 152, 18 U.S.C. ยง 1385) and authorize
indefinite military detention without charge or trial, within
the United States, of citizens, legal permanent residents and
others.
(4) The Commonwealth should preserve its sovereignty as
upheld in the United States Supreme Court decision Printz v.
United States, 521 U.S. 898 (1997). In Printz, the United
States Supreme Court held that the Federal Government may not
command the states' officers, or those of their political
subdivisions, to administer or enforce Federal law.
Furthermore, the indefinite military detention of any person
in the United States without charge or trial violates the
4th, 5th and 6th Amendments and Article III of the
Constitution of the United States.
(5) The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal
Year 2012 authorizing the indefinite military detention of
civilians captured far from any battlefield violates the laws
of war by which the United States is bound and harms our
nation's reputation for upholding the rule of law and
democratic values.
(6) Civilians should be prosecuted in Federal court if
there is evidence of wrongdoing, not detained without charge
or trial.
(7) No President of the United States has the power to
take the country into war except, as James Madison wrote, "to
repel a sudden attack on the United States." The Congress of
the United States decides whether and when to use military
power. Our system of checks and balances should be restored
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by ensuring that the 2001 Joint Resolution of the Congress of
the United States known as the Authorization for Use of
Military Force (Public Law 107-40, 115 Stat. 224) and the
National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012
cannot be used for endless war and indefinite detention
without charge or trial. The Authorization for Use of
Military Force should expire when United States combat
operations in Afghanistan end, and sections 1021 and 1022 of
the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012
should be replaced.
(8) The Congress of the United States should repeal
sections 1021 and 1022 of the National Defense Authorization
Act for Fiscal Year 2012.
(9) The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal
Year 2012 and the Authorization for Use of Military Force do
not now and should never authorize the armed forces of the
United States to investigate, arrest, detain or try any
person within the United States or to militarily detain,
without charge or trial, civilians not captured on a
battlefield.
(10) The Authorization for Use of Military Force should
expire upon the end of combat operations in Afghanistan by
the armed forces of the United States, and the Congress of
the United States must retain the authority to declare war or
authorize the use of military force consistent with Article I
of the Constitution of the United States, and the President
of the United States must retain the authority under Article
II of the Constitution of the United States to deploy the
armed forces to repel a sudden attack on the United States,
its territories or possessions or its armed forces.
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The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
hereby enacts as follows:
Section 1. Protections against military action within this
Commonwealth.
(a) General rule.--Notwithstanding any contrary provision of
law, no agency of the Commonwealth or any of its political
subdivisions, employees acting in their official capacity or any
member of the Pennsylvania National Guard, when such a member is
serving in the Pennsylvania National Guard on official State
duty, may engage in any activity that aids an agency of or the
armed forces of the United States in the investigation, arrest,
detention or trial of any person within the United States under
the authority of sections 1021 or 1022 of the National Defense
Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012 (Public Law 112-81, 125
Stat. 1562 and 1563), the Joint Resolution of the Congress of
the United States known as the Authorization of Use of Military
Force (Public Law 107-40, 115 Stat. 224), or any other law
purporting to authorize the same.
(b) Duty of Attorney General.--The Attorney General shall
report to the Governor and the General Assembly any attempt by
an agency or agent of the United States Federal Government to
secure the implementation of sections 1021 and 1022 of the
National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012 through
the operations of the United States Federal Government,
including any of its agencies, departments, employees or agents,
or through the operations of the Commonwealth, a political
subdivision of the Commonwealth or a corporation providing
services to the Commonwealth, including any of its agencies,
departments, employees or agents.
(c) Duty of Secretary of the Commonwealth.--The Secretary of
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the Commonwealth shall send copies of this act, upon its
enactment, to the President of the United States, the
Pennsylvania delegation in the United States Congress, the
United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, the United
States Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, the United
States House of Representatives Committee on the Judiciary, the
United States House of Representatives Permanent Select
Committee on Intelligence and the United States Attorney
General.
Section 2. Effective date.
This act shall take effect immediately.
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