Where Has Martial Law Been Declared

Alabama Governor Gordon Persons declared Russell County martial law in June 1954 due to the pervasive influence of organized crime gangs. The National Guard took over law enforcement duties in the county for the rest of the year, shutting down gang-controlled facilities and overseeing the first legal elections in decades. Notes: This was the first declaration of martial law in the history of the United States. On the same day the Japanese navy attacked Pearl Harbor, the territorial governor of Hawaii (not yet a state) declared martial law. His declaration was to last until October 1944 for fear of Japanese spies and saboteurs. Putin imposes „martial law” in the illegally annexed regions of Ukraine on the 21st. In May 1961, Governor Patterson of Alabama declared martial law „as a result of outside agitators who came to Alabama to violate our laws and customs,” leading to „outbreaks of lawlessness and mob actions.” [21] The „outside agitators” were „freedom riders,” peaceful civil rights activists who challenged the already illegal racial segregation in the South. „In this regard, I would like to remind you that martial law was in force in the Donetsk People`s Republic, the Luhansk People`s Republic, as well as in the Kherson and Zaporizhia regions before joining Russia,” Putin said in a televised address. State officials sometimes declared martial law in response to violent riots or natural disasters such as the Akron riot of 1900 or the Galveston hurricane of 1900. footnote24_krjjley 24 Mary Plazo, „That Akron Riot,” Past Pursuits: A Newsletter of the Special Collections Division of the Akron-Summit County Public Library 9 (Summer 2010): 7, www.akronlibrary.org/images/Divisions/SpecCol/images/PastPursuits/pursuits92.pdf; and „Martial Law at an End: Conditions at Galveston Improveing,” Los Angeles Herald, 21 Sept. 1900, 2. Much more often, however, they have used martial law to break strikes in the name of business interests. For example, in September 1903, at the request of mine owners, Colorado Governor James Peabody declared martial law at Cripple Creek and Telluride to break a peaceful strike by the Western Federation of Miners.

The Colorado National Guard carried out mass arrests of striking workers and locked them in open-air stables. The Guard even ignored state court orders to release the prisoners, with one officer declaring, „To hell with the Constitution.” footnote25_fe8g98u 25 Elizabeth Jameson, All That Glitters – Class, Conflict, and Community in Cripple Creek (Champaign: University of Illinois Press, 1998), pp. 207-8. Jackson argued that his actions were justified because the New Orleans government had ceased in the wake of the impending British attack. The army was the only organ that could protect the city. In this situation, he said, the military had the authority to do whatever was „necessary” to preserve New Orleans. footnote7_xgdc20d 7 Dennison, „Martial Law,” 61–62; and Vladeck, „Field Theory,” page 422. This was a new argument, and he couldn`t explain why he kept the city under martial law for so long. Article 253 is the only substantive provision of the Insurrection Act that could, prima facie, be interpreted as permitting a limited form of martial law. Among other things, it allows the president to deploy the National Guard or active armed forces to suppress „any insurrection, domestic violence, unlawful combination, or conspiracy” in a state if doing so „prevents the enforcement of [state or federal] laws” that „a section or class of the [state`s] population is deprived of a constitutional right and the „constituted authorities” of the state „are unable to: deny this right or refuse to protect it.

footnote8_jc6raug 8 The full text of 10 U.S.C. Article 253 states: The President shall, through the use of militia or armed forces, or both, or by any other means, take such measures as he deems necessary to suppress in a State any insurrection, domestic violence, unlawful combination, or conspiracy if (1) they impede the enforcement of the laws of that State and of the United States within the State; that any part or class of its population is deprived of any right, privilege, immunity or protection as specified in the Constitution and guaranteed by law, and that the constituted authorities of that State may not refuse or refuse to protect or grant such right, privilege or immunity; or (2) opposes or obstructs the enforcement of the laws of the United States or interferes with the conduct of justice under those laws. In each case referred to in paragraph 1, the State shall be deemed to have denied the same protection of the laws guaranteed by the Constitution. As in § 252, the wishes of the state are irrelevant. In 1849, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the legality of Rhode Island`s declaration of martial law in Luther v. Borden. footnote15_wthm102 15 Luther, 48 U.S. to 47. Notes: U.S. Army General John C. Fremont declared martial law in St.

Louis on August 14, 1861, and throughout Missouri on August 30. Fremont was soon relieved of his command for insubordination. His successor, General Henry W. Halleck, believed that Fremont did not have the power to declare martial law, and he refused to enforce it until he received written permission from President Abraham Lincoln in December 1861. The Supreme Court, without endorsing the federal government`s power to impose martial law, concluded that such statements are subject to judicial review. At least in a state or territory that the federal government has placed under martial law, persons detained by the military may apply to a federal court for an order for their release by filing an application for a writ of habeas corpus. footnote5_cn616nw 5 Duncan, 327 U.S. to 307, 324; and Milligan, 71 U.S. at 130-31. A court considering a person`s application may decide whether the imposition of martial law was constitutionally permissible.

footnote6_94or0b0 6 milligan, 71 U.S. at 126–27. The reviewing court can also decide whether special acts of the military – such as the decision to arrest and detain the person seeking habeas corpus – violated the Constitution or exceeded the powers conferred by law (if any) authorizing martial law. footnote7_jxga2nq 7 Duncan, 327 U.S. to 324; and Milligan, 71 U.S. at 130-31. Under Russian law, martial law expands the powers of the military and law enforcement. It allows the military to impose curfews, restrict freedom of movement, confiscate civilian property, monitor communications, and order citizens to rebuild destroyed cities. However, a partial mobilization has already taken place in Russia and has been extended to the occupied territories, so it is not clear whether more men will be called. For better or worse, martial law has been imposed 68 times in the United States and its territories, according to the Brennan Center for Justice, a nonpartisan institute of law and policy.

Natural disasters, riots, and even Mormons caused the civilian government to temporarily cede power to the military. Here are some notable examples from the history of the United States. The 2002 law cited by Putin has never been enforced and can only be implemented if Russia faces aggression or the „imminent threat of aggression.” In 1914, the imposition of martial law reached its peak during the Colorado Territorial War. Decades of conflict came to a head in 1913 in Ludlow, Colorado. The Colorado National Guard was called in to crack down on the strikers. For a time, peace was kept, but it is reported that the composition of guards stationed in the mines began to shift from normal impartial troops to companies of loyal mine guards. Clashes escalated and the governor declared martial law, eventually leading to the Ludlow Massacre. President Wilson sent in federal troops and eventually ended the violence. In 1892, striking miners in Coeur d`Alene, Idaho, blew up a factory and shot at strikebreaking workers. The blast flattened a four-story building, killing one person. The governor declared martial law.

At the same time, a request was made to federal troops to support the guards. More than 600 people were arrested.