With the National Guard rolling out troops and humvees across our capital, it’s a question worth asking. When the federal or state government declares martial law it’s the complete suspension of all local laws, civil authority, and local judiciaries. The commanding officer substitutes temporary laws and military tribunals. The Military commander has virtually unlimited authority to govern an area. Surprisingly, the Constitution doesn’t define nor does it specify who can declare martial law. Despite this, federal and state governments had declared martial law more than 60 times. In fact, SCOTUS has held that states can declare martial law, but has never said a president can.

*** REFERENCES:

https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/posse-comitatus-act-explained https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/1385 https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-dc-crime-national-guard-b2807122.html https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-national-guard-military-states-cities-b2812837.html https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/dc-national-guard-armed-weapons-hegseth-b2812838.html https://x.com/JesseBWatters/status/1958690745189376151 https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/d-c-under-martial-law-185336902.html https://x.com/nicksortor/status/1958290355545067588 https://x.com/ScooterCasterNY/status/1955434390005354731 https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/guide-declarations-martial-law-united-states

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