Martial Law Would End America As We Know It
Once We Go There We Won’t Come Back
I’m re-posting this from March because it looks like we’re about to go there. In essence, we already have martial law in cities like Los Angeles, Chicago and D.C. with troops in the streets and anonymous, lawless thugs hurting and abducting people. Actual martial law, will be much, much worse. And there will be no way to stop it.
We, the United States, have been edging ever closer to a nationwide declaration of martial law since the tRUmp regime took power.
President Musk and First Russian Asset tRUmp have been dropping hints. Musk, who seems to be running the government but is an unelected private citizen, ran to his daddy tRUmp, who does have the legal power over the people, because of protests at his car dealerships. tRUmp responded saying protesters arrested at Musk’s dealerships would be charged as terrorists.
A legal permanent resident of the US has been detained for being the alleged leader of anti-Israeli protests at Columbia University in New York. At least initially, it appeared that Mahmoud Khalil was being held without access to lawyers. tRUmp has threatened to charge protestors arrested at Tesla protests with being terrorists.
These are just two of many acts and statements by tRUmp that provide very real clues as to where we are heading – martial law on a nationwide basis.
Martial law has never been declared on a nationwide basis as far as I can tell. But it has been declared numerous times – usually in a bloody fashion to suppress strikes — often in the support of fossil fuel extraction in coal mines and other labor actions. It was declared in southern states once to supposedly crush organized crime and in 1961 to suppress the Freedom Riders. Both of these took place in Alabama. No surprise there.
Throughout American history, martial law has been imposed at least 68 times in limited, usually local areas of the United States. Martial law was declared for these reasons: Twice for war or invasion, seven times for domestic war or insurrection, eleven times for riot or civil unrest, 29 times for labor dispute, four times for natural disaster and fifteen times for other reasons. Habeas corpus was suspended federally only once in 1863 during the Civil War.
Can tRUmp do this on a nationwide basis and is it actually legal? Yes and yes.
Here’s how (you won’t be surprised that George W. Bush was behind this):
From the as-yet uncensored Wikipedia:
2007 National Defense Authorization Act
H.R. 5122, also known as the John Warner National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2007 was a bill passed in the United States Congress on September 29, 2006, and signed by President George W. Bush on October 17, 2006, becoming Public Law 109-364. In addition to allocating funding for the armed forces, it also gave the president the power to declare martial law and to take command of the National Guard units of each state without the consent of state governors.
And you won’t be surprised there was underhanded tactics used to push this law through.
On April 2, 2007, US Senate held hearings about recent changes to the Insurrection Act of 1807, (in Sec 1072 of Defense Authorization Act) where Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont sought to reverse the 2006 amendments to the Insurrection Act, which had given the US President new powers to use military for domestic disturbance, terrorism, insurrection, etc, and even changed the name from “Insurrection Act” to “Enforcement of the Laws to Restore Public Order.”
Pay attention to the statement of former senator Kit Bond:
In the Senate Hearing, Senator Kit Bond, a Republican from Missouri, testified: “Mr. Chairman, the measure that was included in last year’s congressional Defense Authorization Act I think was ill-conceived, unnecessary, and dumb. Even some of the members of the SASC who should have did not know about it. But this is an influential panel, and you know how it has changed the old law, and we now know that all 50 of our Nation’s Governors, Adjutants General, and local law enforcement are opposed to it. Nobody knows where it came from. Allowing the President to invoke the Act and declare martial law where public order breaks down as a result of natural disaster, epidemic, terrorist attack, is very ambiguous and gives him broad authority potentially to usurp the role of the Governors.”
That’s correct. Mystery people, identities unknown, crafted this law.
Here’s some more:
Based on opposition by Congress, individual state Governors, law enforcement community, and absence of clarity on who even introduced these changes, the ‘Enforcement of the Laws to Restore Public Order’ law was repealed on January 28, 2008, (based on Sen. Pat Leahy’s S. 513 proposal to repeal) and the previous Insurrection Act was restored. As of 2020, the Insurrection Act of 1807 still applies in limiting a US President’s ability under Title 10 to federalize National Guard troops for martial law purposes.
From Findlaw:
Examples of actions that can take place during martial law include curfews for citizens and restricting public gatherings to prevent civil unrest. All civilian laws are suspended for the duration of martial law. Military leaders may create and enforce their own laws, and may detain people and take over local governments and their responsibilities.
Mugshots of Freedom Riders, as displayed at the Center for Civil and Human Rights in Atlanta, Georgia
It’s understandable if you’re left feeling a little unclear about when martial law can be declared in the United States. Because it is a rare occurrence, there is not much established legal precedent about it. As an extraordinary remedy for emergencies, there have (fortunately) been only a limited number of times when it has been declared in the U.S., and so far these have all been of limited duration.
How can martial law be lifted once declared? That’s unclear to me. And apparently unclear under the law. Perhaps some smart attorney reading this can tell us more.
From Findlaw
Were a president to declare martial law without cause, it’s not clear what actions Congress or U.S. citizens could take, and would likely depend on the circumstances. However, Congress does always have the right to impeach a president for an abuse of power, similar to what happened in South Korea. Impeachment is the ultimate legal remedy of the legislative branch.
During the few short weeks since the new regime took power we’ve seen a number of thing that have never been done before in America history. Like letting an unelected billionaire on Ketmaine run roughshod over the government making snap decisions.
Some of the key words and phrases to look for, many of which are being uttered right now: domestic disturbance, terrorism, domestic terrorism, terrorist attack, insurrection, disaster, order, public order.
It appears to me that once our supposed “leadership” goes there it will be difficult, if not impossible, to go back.
You can read about this for yourself. Here are a few links to get started:
When Can Martial Law Be Declared in the United States?
Constitutional Topic: Martial Law – The U.S. Constitution Online – USConstitution.net
Constitutional Topic: Martial Law – The U.S. Constitution Online – USConstitution.net
National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2007
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Defense_Authorization_Act_for_Fiscal_Year_2007
Freedom Riders