 |
|
|
Posse Comitatus, November 14, 2003 |
|
|
By Michele Blackburn Posse Comitatus Act, religious beliefs,
and the USO make for this interesting episode of JAG titled Posse
Comitatus. previous episode review//next episode review
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posse Comitatus, November 14, 2003 |
|
|
By Michele Blackburn Posse Comitatus Act, religious beliefs,
and the USO make for this interesting episode of JAG titled Posse
Comitatus. previous episode review//next episode review
|
|
Harm
and Mac are sent to Yuma, Arizona by the Admiral after the news got a hold
of a hostage situation that was taken care of by two Marine officers in a
Cobra. The funny part of this scene came when Harm was walking back to
office and he almost walked into Sturgis' office (I.E.: his old office).
He quickly turned away and ran into Harriet while on his way to his
office. 
Harm and Mac go to question a Major Justin Tunney on violating the Posse
Comitatus Act after firing on a man who had taken a deputy hostage during
a hostage situation. The case became very heated because neither the
Sheriff or his deputy thought what Major Tunney did was right. Because of
Tunney's actions, Deputy Dole was injured and Barkley Cale was killed.
The situation became worse when Mac found out that this wasn't the first
time Major Tunney had violated the Posse Comitatus Act. He did it once
before after stopping a man in a get away car by cutting off his route.
The driver ended up hitting a tree in a civilian's back yard. This isn't
the only thing that troubles Mac and Harm. Mac produces Major Tunney's
memoirs which discusses the incident with the get away driver. 
I loved the scene with Harm and Mac at the military base as they were
arguing about the case and Harm was spitting out facts about the Act and
the things the military had done since then. I loved the line she said
about Harm once working 'on the dark side' meaning the CIA. This is when
Mac realized just how much Harm loved what he did. Unfortunately, we
didn't get to hear Mac's answer when Harm asked her if she liked having
him back because her cell phone rang (
After hearing testimony from Deputy Dole and the Sheriff, Major Tunney is
found innocent of all charges. However, seconds later he finds out that
his flight status has been taken away from him until a fitness review
board can review his case. Harm looked slightly shocked. Of course, as a
pilot he had to of known that was coming. When Mac asked Tunney if he
would do it again, he told her he would and walked out. 
Meanwhile, Harriet is given a new assignment from the head of Armed Forces
Entertainment. Because of her wonderful work at JAG, he wants her to
wrangle celebrities for the USO shows. I thought this was ironic because
Karri Turner worked recently in a USO show. Her scenes on the phone were
really cute. 
While, Harriet had her job and Mac and Harm were in Yuma, Bud and Sturgis
had their own case. Sturgis represented a Quaker Naval doctor who wanted
out of the Navy because of his religious beliefs. This was a really hard
case for Sturgis because it really made him think about his beliefs. When
his father showed up to help with the case, his beliefs were in even more
turmoil. 
Commander Justin Bentley was a Naval doctor that became a Quaker after
marrying his wife. A Quaker's belief is very strong. They believe in
several different things. Two that are mentioned in tonight's episode are
the opposition to war and the opposition to oaths. Quakers also believe in
equality for women and some believe that there is no Hell. 
Getting back to the subject, Chaplain Turner testifies in behalf of
Commander Bentley and he makes some valid points that hit Sturgis hard.
However, so does Bud. When the case ends, Bud releases Commander Bentley
from the Navy and also releases him from the Naval Health Plan meaning
that any Navy officers or dependents he sees will not be represented by
the health plan after his official release. In other words, once he is
officially released from the Navy, he will have no patients to treat.