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LuckyCharms

(17,459 posts)
Fri Jan 18, 2019, 10:35 PM Jan 2019

Ugh. Just had a nasty thought. Please educate me.

Admittedly, I know next to nothing about this subject.

Let's say that Trump declares a national emergency tomorrow. I know that they have been declared in the past, but I'm assuming that previous declarations have been made by sane presidents .

My questions are: What is the relationship between declaring a national emergency and declaring martial law?

Does POTUS have unlimited discretion in these matters?

I know I could Google this, but I'll most likely get a more nuanced answer here.

And once again DU...thank you in advance. I appreciate any responses.

7 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Ugh. Just had a nasty thought. Please educate me. (Original Post) LuckyCharms Jan 2019 OP
He's not going to declare Martial Law, IMO. 80% of citizenry would laugh at him. Hoyt Jan 2019 #1
MF45 doesn't know FoxNewsSucks Jan 2019 #6
His only experience is with marital law Yonnie3 Jan 2019 #7
Trump has already declared three national emergencies oberliner Jan 2019 #2
Thanks for the normalization! dpibel Jan 2019 #4
You're welcome oberliner Jan 2019 #5
Hopefully this will help a bit... spicysista Jan 2019 #3

dpibel

(2,854 posts)
4. Thanks for the normalization!
Fri Jan 18, 2019, 10:50 PM
Jan 2019

Good to have your ever-vigilant presence on these things.

Quick question: How many of those 24 emergencies declared by Bush II and Obama were based on total fiction?

 

oberliner

(58,724 posts)
5. You're welcome
Fri Jan 18, 2019, 10:57 PM
Jan 2019

People need to take a deep breath sometimes and put things in perspective.

Most of the Bush ones seemed to be pretty questionable.

spicysista

(1,663 posts)
3. Hopefully this will help a bit...
Fri Jan 18, 2019, 10:50 PM
Jan 2019

Martial law (per Wikipedia):

The martial law concept in the United States is closely tied with the right of habeas corpus, which is in essence the right to a hearing on lawful imprisonment, or more broadly, the supervision of law enforcement by the judiciary. The ability to suspend habeas corpus is related to the imposition of martial law.[1] Article 1, Section 9 of the US Constitution states, "The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it." There have been many instances of the use of the military within the borders of the United States, such as during the Whiskey Rebellion and in the South during the Civil Rights Movement, but these acts are not tantamount to a declaration of martial law. The distinction must be made as clear as that between martial law and military justice: deployment of troops does not necessarily mean that the civil courts cannot function, and that is one of the keys, as the Supreme Court noted, to martial law.

In United States law, martial law is limited by several court decisions that were handed down between the American Civil War and World War II. In 1878, Congress passed the Posse Comitatus Act, which forbids military involvement in domestic law enforcement without congressional approval.

From the free dictionary https://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Martial+Law

Martial Law

The exercise of government and control by military authorities over the civilian population of a designated territory.

Martial law is an extreme and rare measure used to control society during war or periods of civil unrest or chaos. According to the Supreme Court, the term martial law carries no precise meaning (Duncan v. Kahanamoku, 327 U.S. 304, 66 S. Ct. 606, 90 L. Ed. 688 [1946]).



National Emergencies Act (per Wikipedia):

The National Emergencies Act (Pub.L. 94–412, 90 Stat. 1255, enacted September 14, 1976, codified at 50 U.S.C. § 1601–1651) is a United States federal law passed to stop open-ended states of national emergency and formalize the power of Congress to provide certain checks and balances on the emergency powers of the President. The Act of Congress imposes certain procedural formalities on the President when invoking such powers. The perceived need for the law arose from the scope and number of laws granting special powers to the executive in times of national emergency.

The Act authorized the President to activate emergency provisions of law via an emergency declaration on the conditions that the President specifies the provisions so activated and notifies Congress. An activation would expire if the President expressly terminated the emergency, or did not renew the emergency annually, or if each house of Congress passed a resolution terminating the emergency.



Hope this helps!

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