Dershowitz: Does President Trump have power to declare martial law?
By Alan Dershowitz, opinion contributor — 06/03/20 10:00 AM EDT
The Constitution, quite surprisingly, is silent on the issue of martial law and emergency powers. Martial law and emergency powers were not actually uncommon at the founding of the nation, and several state constitutions provided for them in cases of emergency. That silence, however, has not stopped presidents from exercising such powers, generally upon the request and with the cooperation of states.
In more recent history, for instance, President Johnson deployed federal troops to Detroit in 1967 during a riot and once more to Chicago amid violence during the Democratic convention in 1968. He had the blessing of the states and cities in both cases. California requested and received federal troops during the Los Angeles riots in 1992. However, President Eisenhower sent the 101st Airborne Division to Little Rock against the wishes of Arkansas to enforce high school integration in 1957. President Kennedy federalized the National Guard to force integration of the University of Alabama in 1962, also over state objections.
The closest the Constitution comes to regulating these powers is in a prohibition against suspending the writ of habeas corpus “unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public safety may require it.†We are definitely not experiencing an invasion, nor do the current disturbances, violent as some but not others have been, qualify as a rebellion.
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https://thehill.com/opinion/judiciary/500855-dershowitz-does-president-trump-have-power-to-declare-martial-law
