First Page
1895
Abstract
Civilian military activism is a challenge that U.S. policymakers have struggled with since the Founding. The United States’ first answer to this issue was the Neutrality Act of 1794, which embodied the young nation’s rejection of private violence and fear of being dragged into international conflicts by overzealous citizens. For decades, the Neutrality Act remained an important tool in the government’s repertoire and was amended to close newfound loopholes and respond to evolving technologies. In the mid-1800s, however, the government’s enforcement efforts waned, culminating in a period where the acts of the government and those of the governed bled together to cultivate a marketplace for private violence.
Today, the new domain of cyberwar creates unprecedented opportunities for civilian participation in war, casting a new light on the wisdom that motivated the Neutrality Act. Yet as the weapons of war have changed, U.S. law has remained stagnant. It is unclear whether the Neutrality Act, or any current law, provides the means for the United States to adequately address civilian participation in cyberwar. Even if the tools existed, governmental will to address this phenomenon has diminished, echoing political attitudes of the mid-1800s that contributed to the rise of the liminal state and fueled a surge of violence perpetrated by U.S. citizens abroad.
This Note examines modern issues posed by cybervigilantism through a historical lens, focusing on the phenomenon of the filibusters—flamboyant American adventurers who flouted neutrality laws in the mid-1800s. Modern realities, like the rise of the Ukrainian IT Army, should spur the United States to reevaluate existing law and enforcement philosophies that fail to adequately address civilian participation in cyberwar.
Recommended Citation
Rachel Dodge,
Dismantling a Marketplace for Private Violence: Reclaiming the Modern Weapons of War to Forestall Filibusters of the Web,
77 Vanderbilt Law Review
1895
(2024)
Available at: https://scholarship.law.vanderbilt.edu/vlr/vol77/iss6/5
