"The Trump administration broke the law. Its officials knew they were breaking the law. And they'll likely try to do so again. In its most distilled form, that's the conclusion of Charles Breyer, the federal judge overseeing a suit brought by California Governor Gavin Newsom over the Trump administration's deployment of National Guardsmen and Marines in and around Los Angeles in June. In a scathing opinion delivered today, Breyer said that the administration had acted illegally."
"That law, passed in 1878, bars the use of the military in domestic law enforcement, except as allowed by the Constitution or by Congress. Breyer's ruling makes plain how the administration worked to circumvent the law, and why. In its public statements, the White House continues to claim that it's acting under long-established authorities and engaging in straightforward, limited efforts to reduce street crime."
"The arguments that their lawyers made in court point to a different conclusion: The Trump administration is seeking martial law, in practice if not in name. Today's ruling might seem a bit obsolete-after all, the Marines and most of the Guardsmen have been sent home. But both Donald Trump and his critics have pointed to the deployment as a model, first for the current use of the National Guard in Washington, D.C., and now for potential deployments in cities including Chicago, San Francisco, and Baltimore."
A federal court concluded that the administration illegally deployed National Guardsmen and Marines in and around Los Angeles in June. The deployments aimed to establish a military presence and enforce federal law, violating the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878, which bars military involvement in domestic law enforcement except under constitutional or congressional authorization. Government lawyers asserted longstanding authorities and crime-control motives, but court findings showed an effort to circumvent legal limits and pursue martial-law-like effects. Most troops have been withdrawn, yet the deployment has been referenced as a model for use of the National Guard in Washington, D.C., and for possible deployments in other cities.
Read at The Atlantic
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