Michael Cullars
Liberty University
CJUS 520-D01 Legal Issues in Homeland Security
Forum 1 Module 1
Professor Peter Brake
Response to James J.
Hello James. I enjoyed reading your post. One of the most important strong point you in
your discussion was the importance of effective communication the various local agencies during
emergency response. These communications/interoperability issues could be alleviated during
the initial stages of the emergency management process. There are different exercises that local
leaders and first responders may conduct to enhance their ability to respond and recover from
emergencies. In the case of those localities possessing the 800 radio systems and those that did
not, conducting a training exercise would have assisted key stake holders and emergency
managers in identify problems in their radio interoperability/communications response in their
emergency management annex plan. According to McEntire (2019), one method to mitigate
radio interoperability problems is to conduct functional exercises during the preparation phase.
Functional drills are design to investigate and identify problems in a crisis plan (McEntire,
2019). Functional exercises may incorporate a field segment such as equipment along with the
application of mild stress through practice scenarios (McEntire, 2019). Any issues brought up
after the exercises are conducted should be addressed. Emergency managers finding significant
weakness should submit paperwork to State and Federal officials to receive grants and
or/additional resources to fund their training and receive technologies that serve as force
multipliers to their emergency management plans (McEntire, 2019).
Although their may be organizations and individuals that believe terrorists from
sovereign nations that commit terrorist acts against American citizens domestically or abroad,
they are not entitled to due process unless they are American citizens. In Hamdi v. Rumsfeld
(2004), the U.S. Supreme Court decided that although a terrorist can be declared as an enemy
combatant by the executive branch, those that are U.S citizens are entitled to the same due
process under the U.S. Constitution and have the right to challenge the government if that right
have been violated. The U.S. still reserve the right to hold detainees in custody as enemy
combatants but can not deny those individuals that are legal citizens of the U.S. their due
process. The passage of the USA PATRIOT Act is a mitigation measure designed to prevent
terrorists’ attacks as well as serving as a force multiplier for law enforcement to utilize to
enhance their ability to apprehend and prosecute terrorists.
There are concerns from some American citizens and organizations that the USA
PATRIOT Act infringes upon rights inherited from the Constitution. However, we must decide
which is more important, our civil liberties and protections under the Constitution or our
security. Our government have systems in place to ensure that there is a balance between our
freedom and protections. Romans 13: 1-2 states, “Let every person be subject to the governing
authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted
by God. Therefore, whoever resists the authorities…” (ESV). We may not always agree with
our government, but God imprinted the United States as a Nation since 1776 and was further
legitimized after the signing of the Paris Treaty of 1783, which effectively put an end to the
American Revolutionary war.
