Here’s the excerpt from the bill as passed.
Section 1032 (b); Applicability to United States Citizens and Lawful Resident
Aliens.—
(1) United states citizens.—The requirement to detain a person in military custody under this section does not extend to citizens of the United States.
(2) Lawful resident aliens.—The requirement to detain a person in military custody under this section does not extend to a lawful resident alien of the United States on the basis of conduct taking place within the United States, except to the extent permitted by the Constitution of the United States.
My quibble with this is: “The REQUIREMENT”......while I admit it’s true that the POTUS is not REQUIRED to detain a US citizen in military custody, he (or she) may CHOOSE to do so. I don’t like that.
Furthermore, the language simply states, ....”shall not extend to US citizens.” That’s not an explicit prohibition. In other words, I find it a bit slippery, and “open to emanations and penumbras” if you will.
If I were writing it, I would’ve written, “The requirement to detain a person in military custody under this section is explicitly prohibited toward those who are citizens of the United States”, with similar language for permanent resident aliens. To me, that’s very much an explicit exemption.
IMHO, there’s wiggle-room. And a smart lawyer (and D.C. is full of them) can twist that wiggle-room into a nightmare.
Just my personal view. Here’s a link to the entire bill for those who feel up to the daunting task of reading it: http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-112s1867es/html/BILLS-112s1867es.htm
Includes transcript.
http://www.c-spanvideo.org/appearance/600840428