PART E - JURISDICTION OVER AREAS OF LAND AND THE DISPOSITION OF
CIVILIAN OFFENDERS
1.
General.
The installation commander is responsible for the maintenance of
law and order on post.
This is Stated in AR 210-10, paragraph 2-9.
Also, DOD
Directive 5200.8 (July 29, 1980), states: "It is the policy of the Department of
Defense that military installations, property, and personnel be protected to the
extent practical and that applicable laws and regulations be enforced.
The
authority of an installation commander to take such steps as are reasonably
necessary and lawful, to maintain law and order and to protect installation
personnel and property, has long been recognized.
This authority extends to
temporarily established "federal areas" under emergency situations such as accident
sites involving federal equipment or personnel on official business."
This
authority "also includes the removal from or the denial of access to an
installation or site of individuals who threaten the orderly administration of the
installation or site."
2.
Bar letters. 18 USC Section 1382, states: "Whoever, within the jurisdiction
of the United States...goes upon any military, Naval, or Coast Guard reservation,
post, fort, arsenal, yard, station, or installation, for any purpose prohibited by
law or regulation: or whoever reenters or is found within any such reservation,
post, fort, arsenal, yard, station, or installation, after having been removed
therefrom or ordered not to reenter by any officer or person in command or charge
thereof--shall be fined not more than 0 or imprisoned not more than six months,
or both."
This law was challenged in U.S. v. Albertini, 472 US 675 86 LEd 2d 536, 105
SCt 2897 (1985). The defendant and a companion had entered Hickman AFB in order to
present a letter to the commander.
Instead, "they obtained access to secret Air
Force documents and destroyed them by pouring blood on the papers." The defendant
was given a bar letter by the commander, informing him that he was forbidden to
reenter without written permission of the commander.
Nine years later, in 1981,
Hickam AFB had an open house day, and the gates were "open to the public." Radio
announcements proclaimed that "the public is invited." The defendant attended the
open house "in order to engage in a peaceful demonstration criticizing the nuclear
arms race." He was apprehended and charged with violating Section 1382, by having
unlawfully and knowingly reentered Hickam AFB after having previously been barred
therefrom.
The defendant first argued that a bar letter could not last indefinitely.
The Supreme Court held otherwise, explaining that the law was not limited to
reentry within a "reasonable" period of time.
Instead, Section 1382 "does not
limit the period for which a commanding officer may exclude a civilian from a
military installation."
The defendant's second argument was that he had a First
Amendment right to demonstrate on the installation. The Court explained that the
statute (Section 1382) was "content-neutral and serves a significant government
interest by barring entry to a military base by persons whose previous conduct
demonstrates that they are a threat to security. Application of a racially neutral
regulation that incidentally burdens speech satisfies the First Amendment if it
furthers an important or substantial governmental interest; it the government
interest is unrelated to the suppression of free
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