Senate Bill 2689

AN ACT ENTITLED THE "MISSISSIPPI LIBERTY PRESERVATION ACT" TO PROHIBIT ALL PUBLIC OFFICERS AGENTS AND EMPLOYEES OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI FROM PROVIDING MATERIAL SUPPORT OR PARTICIPATING IN THE IMPLEMENTATION OF SECTIONS 1021 AND 1022 OF THE NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT OF 2012; TO PROVIDE THAT IT IS A MISDEMEANOR FOR A PERSON TO PROVIDE MATERIAL SUPPORT OR PARTICIPATE IN THE IMPLEMENTATION OF SECTIONS 1021 AND 1022 OF THE NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT OF 2012; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:

SECTION 1. (1) This section shall be known and may be cited as the "Mississippi Liberty Preservation Act."

(2) The Legislature finds that

(a) The Congress of the United States passed the National Defense Authorization Act, 2011 Public Law 112 81 ("2012 NDAA") for fiscal year 2012 on December 15, 2011;

(b) The President of the United States of America signed the 2012 NDAA into law on December 31, 2011;

(c) Section 1021 of the 2012 NDAA purports to authorize, but does not require, the President of the United States, through the Armed Forces of the United States, to dispose of such detained persons according to the Law of War, which may include, but is not limited to: (i) indefinite detention without charge or trial until the end of hostilities authorized by the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Terrorists, 2001 Public Law 107 40, (ii) prosecution through a military commission, or (iii) transfer to a foreign country or foreign entity;

(d) Section 1022 of the 2012 NDAA requires the Armed Forces of the United States to detain, pending disposition according to the Law of War, any person involved in, or whom provided substantial support to, terrorism or belligerent acts against the United States, and whom is a member of al Qaeda or an associated force;

(e) Policing the United States of America by the Armed Forces of the United States, as purportedly authorized by the 2012 NDAA, overturns the Posse Comitatus doctrine and is repugnant to a free society;

(f) Sections 1021 and 1022 of the 2012 NDAA as they purport to authorize, (i) detainment of persons captured within the United States of America without charge or trial, (ii) military tribunals for persons captured within the United States of America, and (iii) the transfer of persons captured within the United States of America to foreign jurisdictions, are violative of the following rights enshrined in the Constitution of the United States of America:

• Article I Section 9, Clause 2's right to seek Writ of Habeas Corpus;

• The First Amendment's right to petition the government for a redress of grievances;

• The Fourth Amendment's right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures;

• The Fifth Amendment's right to be free from charge for an infamous or capitol crime until presentment or indictment by a grand jury;

• The Fifth Amendment's right to be free from deprivation of life, liberty or property, without due process of law;

• The Sixth Amendment's right in criminal prosecutions to enjoy a speedy trial by an impartial jury in the state and district where the crime shall have been committed;

• The Sixth Amendment's right to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation;

• The Sixth Amendment's right to confront witnesses;

• The Sixth Amendment's right to counsel;

• The Eighth Amendment's right to be free from excessive bail and fines, and cruel and unusual punishment;

(g) Sections 1021 and 1022 of the 2012 NDAA as they purport to authorize, (i) detainment of persons captured within the United States of America without charge or trial, (ii) military tribunals for persons captured within the United States of America, and (iii) the transfer of persons captured within the United of America to foreign jurisdictions, is repugnant to the following rights enshrined in the Mississippi Constitution of 1890:

• Article 3 Section 14's right to be free from deprivation of life or liberty without due process of law;

• Article 3 Section 25's right to have prompt recourse to the laws for all injuries to one's person;

• Article 3 Section 23's right to be free from unreasonable search and seizure;

• Article 3 Section 21's right to be free from capital charge absent a grand jury indictment or felony charge absent grand jury indictment absent information signed by the Attorney General;

• Article 3 Section 29's right to be free from excessive bail;

• Article 3 Section 26's right to bail and right to Habeas Corpus;

• Article 3 Section 27's right to a speedy public trial by an impartial jury, right to have the assistance of counsel and the right to be free from deprivation of life, liberty or property, unless by the judge of peers;

• Article 3 Section 31's right to a trial by jury;

• Article 3 Article 9's requirement that the military authority is subordinate to the civil authority; and

(h) The Legislature of the State of Mississippi, condemns in no uncertain terms Sections 1021 and 1022 of the 2012 NDAA as they purport to (i) repeal the Posse Comitatus doctrine and authorize the President of the United States to utilize the Armed Forces of the United States to police the United States of America, (ii) indefinitely detain persons captured within the United States of America without charge until the end of hostilities as purportedly authorized by the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force, (iii) subject persons captured within the United States of America to military tribunals, and (iv) transfer persons captured within the United States of America to a foreign country or foreign entity.

(3) The State of Mississippi shall not provide material support or participate in any way with the implementation of Sections 1021 and 1022 of the National Defense Authorization Act of 2012 within t he boundaries of this state. The Department of Public Safety is hereby directed to report to the Governor and the Legislature any attempt by agencies or agents of the United States Federal Government to secure the implementation of Sections 1021 and 1022 of the National Defense Authorization Act of 2012 through the operations of that or any other state department.

(4) Any public officer, employee or agent of the State of Mississippi, or any employee of a corporation providing services to the State of Mississippi that enforces or attempts to enforce an act, order, law, statute, rule or regulation of the government of the United States in violation of subsection (2) of this act shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, punishable upon conviction by imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding six (6) months or by a fine not exceeding Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00) or both such fine and imprisonment.

(5) It is the sense of the Mississippi Legislature that Congress should repeal Sections 1021 and 1022 of the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 1012 (Public Law 112-81).

(6) It is the sense of the Mississippi Legislature that the National Defense Authorization Act and the Authorization for Use of Military Force (Public Law 107-40) 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 any battlefield, and that the Authorization for Use of Military Force expires upon the end of combat operations in Afghanistan by the Armed Forces of the United States, but that:

(a) Congress retains the authority to declare war or authorize the use of military force, consistent with Article I of the Constitution.

(b) The President retains the authority under Article II of the Constitution to deploy the Armed Forces to repel a sudden attack on the United States, its territories or possessions, or its Armed Forces.

(7) The Governor shall send copies of this act, upon passage, to our United States Congressmen and Senators, the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, the United States House of Representatives Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, the United States Attorney General, and the President of the United States.

SECTION 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2013.