Mark Graber on the History and Original Meaning of the Militia Act of 1903
In June, Donald Trump federalized 4000 California National Guard troops and deployed them to Los Angeles, ostensibly for the purpose of combating protests, unrest, and lllegality in response to ICE deportation operations. The federal law Trump invoked – the Militia Act of 1903 – can only be used in the event of 1) “invasion” or danger of invasion by a foreign power 2) rebellion, or 3) a situation where the president is “unable with the regular forces to execute the laws of the United States.” A district court rightly invalidated Trump’s actions on the grounds that none of these three conditions actually existed in LA. But the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit overruled on the ground that Trump’s assessment of the facts on the third issue deserves a high degree of judicial deference (though they did reject the administration’s argument that such actions are left to completely unreviewable executive discretion). I criticized the Ninth Circuit ruling here.
In a just-published article, Prof. Mark Graber (Univ. of Maryland), a leading expert on post-Civil War era constitutional issues, has a valuable discussion of the history and original meaning of
Article from Reason.com
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