Senior District Judge Charles R. Breyer issued a 52-page decision barring the administration from deploying, ordering, instructing, training, or using California troops to engage in civilian law enforcement, effective Sept. 12. Breyer warned of a growing "a national police force with the President as its chief" and questioned the continuing need for the National Guard in domestic law enforcement. The Department of Justice said it would immediately appeal, likely prompting a stay until the 9th Circuit rules. Hundreds of troops now patrol Washington, D.C., and roughly 300 soldiers remain in Los Angeles; experts predict the case will clarify legal precedent for military deployments.
In a 52-page decision early Tuesday morning, Senior District Judge Charles R. Breyer barred the administration from "deploying, ordering, instructing, training, or using" California troops to engage in civilian law enforcement - a ruling that could have wide-ranging consequences for Trump's use of the military nationally.
The ruling comes as hundreds of troops now patrol the United States capital, following an order by the president in mid-August deploying the National Guard to tamp down crime in D.C. Thousands more could soon be deployed to other American cities, the administration has warned. About 300 soldiers remain on the streets of Los Angeles, where thousands of National Guard troops and hundreds of Marines were deployed in early June to quell fierce protest over immigration raids.
"Why is the National Guard still around?" Breyer demanded with evident irritation at trial last month. "What is the threat today? What was the threat yesterday or two weeks ago that allowed it?" the judge said. "I'm trying to see whether there are any limits, any limits to the use of a federal force."
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