posse comitatus

posse comitatus definition - legal

n

Latin

  1. Power of the county.
  2. A sheriff may summon citizens to assist him in making an arrest; hence posse in the traditional Old West sense.
  3. A federal statute prohibiting the Army and Air Force from direct participation in civilian law-enforcement activities.

Webster's New World Law Dictionary Copyright © 2006 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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