Martial law in the United States
Martial law in the United States refers to times in
Legal basis
The martial law concept in the United States is closely tied to the right of
In
Throughout history, martial law has been imposed at least 68[2] times in limited, usually local areas of the United States. Martial law was declared for these reasons: Twice for war or invasion, seven times for domestic war or insurrection, eleven times for riot or civil unrest, 29 times for labor dispute, four times for natural disaster and fifteen times for other reasons.[2] Habeas corpus was suspended federally only once in 1863 during the Civil War.[2]
History
American Revolution
As a result of the Boston Tea Party, Parliament passed the Massachusetts Government Act, one of the Intolerable Acts, which suppressed town meetings and assemblies, and imposed appointed government, tantamount to martial law.[3][4][5]
New Orleans in War of 1812
During the War of 1812, US General Andrew Jackson imposed martial law in New Orleans, Louisiana before repulsing the British in the Battle of New Orleans.[6][7][8] Martial law was also imposed in a four-mile radius around the vicinity. When word came of the end of the war, Jackson maintained martial law, contending that he had not gotten official word of the peace. A judge demanded habeas corpus for a man arrested for sedition. Rather than comply with the writ, Jackson had the judge arrested.
Nauvoo, Illinois, during the Illinois Mormon War (1843)
In 1843, Missouri sought to extradite
Utah War (1857)
Tension between
Baltimore (1861)
In April 1861, secessionists severed railroad links around Baltimore to prevent the passage of federal troops and materiel southward. Union general Benjamin Butler entered the city the following month and took over administration from civilian authorities, despite having no federal authority to do so.
Ex parte Milligan (1863)
On September 15, 1863, President Lincoln imposed Congressionally authorized martial law on Maryland and Missouri.[15] The authorizing act allowed the President to suspend habeas corpus and civil rights throughout the entire United States (which he had already done under his own authority on April 27, 1861). Lincoln imposed the suspension on "prisoners of war, spies, or aiders and abettors of the enemy," as well as on other classes of people, such as draft dodgers. The President's proclamation was challenged in Ex parte Milligan, 71 US 2 [1866]. The Supreme Court ruled that Lincoln's imposition of martial law (by way of suspension of habeas corpus) was unconstitutional in areas where the local courts were still in session.
The Great Chicago Fire (1871)
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In response to the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, Chicago mayor Roswell B. Mason declared a state of martial law and placed General Philip Sheridan in charge of the city on October 9, 1871. After the fire was extinguished, there were no widespread disturbances and martial law was lifted within a few days.[16]
Coeur d'Alene, Idaho (1892)
In 1892, in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, striking mineworkers blew up a mill and shot at strike-breaking workers. The explosion leveled a four-story building and killed one person. The governor declared martial law. At the same time, a request was made for federal troops to back guardsmen. Over 600 people were arrested. The list was whittled down to two dozen ringleaders who were tried in the military court. While in prison, the mine workers formed a new union, the Western Federation of Miners.
San Francisco earthquake of 1906
Following the
Colorado Coalfield War (1914 and 1917)
In 1914, the imposition of martial law climaxed during the Colorado Coalfield War. Dating back decades, the conflicts came to a head in Ludlow, Colorado, in 1913. The Colorado National Guard was called in to quell the strikers. For a time, the peace was kept, but it is reported that the make-up of the Guard stationed at the mines began to shift from impartial normal troops to companies of loyal mine guards. Clashes increased and the proclamation of martial law was made by the governor, eventually resulting in the Ludlow Massacre. President Wilson sent in federal troops, eventually ending the violence.
On August 19, 1917, the Spokane office of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW, or Wobblies) was raided, leaders arrested, and martial law was declared. The military authority was the National Guard, controlled by the U.S. War Department. This occurred in reaction to a demand by IWW leader James Rowan that all prisoners of the "class war" (he meant Wobbly strikers and strike leaders involved in a statewide lumber strike) be released or Spokane would face a general strike. The repression of the democratic, radical union in Spokane and across the state took place in the context of the Wobbly-led loggers' and sawmill workers' ongoing strike for the eight-hour day and sanitary conditions in the camps. The IWW was militant, radical, vocal and consistently nonviolent. The larger context of the repression of the union was war hysteria, combined with employer opposition to union demands. The nationwide suppression of the IWW during the war involved physical violence, vandalism, and the imprisonment of hundreds of union members and leaders.
West Virginia Coal Wars (1920-1921)
During the events of the
Minneapolis, Minnesota (1934)
In 1934, Minnesota Governor Floyd B. Olson placed the city of Minneapolis under martial law and deployed the National Guardsmen of the 34th Infantry Division due to escalating violence during the Minneapolis general strike of 1934 after Bloody Friday when police opened fire on picketers.
On July 26, and these deaths of protesters at the hands of the police, Farmer-Labor governor Olson declared martial law and mobilized four thousand National Guardsmen of the 34th Infantry. Following this mobilization, there was no further loss of life.
Between July 26 and August 1, the National Guard began issuing operating permits to truck drivers, and engaging in roving patrols, curfews, and security details. On August 1, National Guard troops seized strike headquarters and placed arrested union leaders in a stockade at the state fairgrounds in Saint Paul. The next day, the headquarters were restored to the union and the leaders released from the stockade, as the National Guard carried out a token raid on the Citizens Alliance headquarters.
The union appealed to the Central Labor Union for a general strike and the governor issued an ultimatum that he would stop all trucks by midnight, August 5, if there was no settlement. Nevertheless, by August 14, there were thousands of trucks operating under military permits. Although the strike was gravely weakened by martial law and economic pressure, union leaders made it clear that it would continue.
On August 21, a federal mediator got acceptance of a settlement proposal from A. W. Strong, head of the Citizens Alliance, incorporating the union's major demands. The settlement was ratified and the back of employer resistance to unionization in Minneapolis was broken.[17]
San Francisco, California (1934)
In 1934, California Governor Frank Merriam placed the docks of San Francisco under martial law, citing "riots and tumult" resulting from a dock worker's strike. The governor threatened to place the entire city under martial law. The National Guard was called in to open the docks, and a citywide institution of martial law was averted when goods began to flow. The guardsmen were empowered to make arrests and to then try detainees or turn them over to the courts.
Territory of Hawaii in World War II (1941-1944)
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During
Russell County, Alabama (1954–55)
Alabama Governor Gordon Persons placed Russell County under martial law in June 1954 due to the pervasive influence of organized crime gangs. The National Guard assumed law enforcement duties in the county for the remainder of the year, shut down gang-controlled establishments, and oversaw the first lawful elections in decades.
Freedom Riders (1961)
On May 21, 1961,
2007 National Defense Authorization Act
H.R. 5122, also known as the
On April 2, 2007, US Senate held hearings about recent changes to the Insurrection Act of 1807, (in Sec 1072 of Defense Authorization Act) where Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont sought to reverse the 2006 amendments to the Insurrection Act, which had given the US President new powers to use military for domestic disturbance, terrorism, insurrection, etc, and even changed the name from "Insurrection Act" to "Enforcement of the Laws to Restore Public Order." In the Senate Hearing, Senator Kit Bond testified: "Mr. Chairman, the measure that was included in last year's congressional Defense Authorization Act I think was ill-conceived, unnecessary, and dumb. Even some of the members of the SASC who should have did not know about it. But this is an influential panel, and you know how it has changed the old law, and we now know that all 50 of our Nation's Governors, Adjutants General, and local law enforcement are opposed to it. Nobody knows where it came from. Allowing the President to invoke the Act and declare martial law where public order breaks down as a result of natural disaster, epidemic, terrorist attack, is very ambiguous and gives him broad authority potentially to usurp the role of the Governors".[citation needed]
Based on opposition by Congress, individual state Governors, law enforcement community, and absence of clarity on who even introduced these changes, the 'Enforcement of the Laws to Restore Public Order' law was repealed on January 28, 2008, (based on Sen. Pat Leahy's S. 513 proposal to repeal) and the previous Insurrection Act was restored. As of 2020, the Insurrection Act of 1807 still applies in limiting a US President's ability under Title 10 to federalize National Guard troops for martial law purposes.[23]
References
- ISBN 978-0-19-972314-0.
As the above details suggest, the imposition of martial law and the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus are related but do not perform identical functions.
- ^ a b c "Guide to Declarations of Martial Law in the United States".
- ^ colonial-america.suite101.com/article.cfm/law-that-started-the-american-revolution
- ^ "Governors or Generals?: A Note on Martial Law and the Revolution of 1689 in English America", Ian Steele, The William and Mary Quarterly, Third Series, Vol. 46, No. 2 (Apr. 1989), pp. 304–314
- ^ "Home > Boston Tea Party > A Tea Party Timeline: 1773–1775", Old South Meeting House
- ^ "The Battle of New Orleans Reconsidered: Andrew Jackson and Martial Law", Matthew Warshauer, Louisiana History: The Journal of the Louisiana Historical Association, Vol. 39, No. 3 (Summer, 1998), pp. 261–291
- ^ "A National Hero, the Battle of New Orleans", Andrew Jackson (1767–1845)
- ^ "Book Review: Andrew Jackson and the Politics of Martial Law: Nationalism, Civil Liberties, and Partisanship." Archived 2012-09-05 at archive.today, American Historical Review, December 2007
- ISBN 978-0-8093-3370-7.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-252-00762-0.
- ^ ISBN 0-252-06980-3.
- ^ "Military Service Records of LDS Men". Genealogy Gateway. 1995. Retrieved 15 June 2009. Paragraph 6.
- ISBN 978-1-61069-517-6.
- ^ Leroy R. Hafen& Ann W. Hafen (eds.), Mormon Resistance: A Documentary Account of the Utah Expedition, 1857–1858, p. 65.
- ^ "Constitutional Topic: Martial Law - The U.S. Constitution Online - USConstitution.net".
- ISBN 0-517-58070-5.
- ^ "Killings, Riots Mark Strikes in Minnesota". 17 April 2024.
- ^ "Martial Law in Hawaii" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on June 20, 2010. Retrieved June 14, 2010.
- Newspapers.com.
- ^ Borreca, Richard (1999-09-13). "Christmas 1941 in Hawaii was not a time to rejoice". Honolulu Star-Bulletin.
- ^ "Proclamation by Governor John Patterson, declaring a state of martial rule in Montgomery".
- ^ Eric Alterman and George Zornick (October 23, 2008). "The Invisible Battle Over Posse Comitatus". Center for American Progress.
- ^ Vladeck, Steve. "Under the Insurrection Act of 1807, here's what a U.S. president can and cannot do". Washington Post. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
Further reading
- Macomb, Alexander, Major General of the United States Army, The Practice of Courts-Martial, (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1841) 154 pages.
- ISBN 978-1-58477-709-0.
- ISBN 0-688-05142-1.
- The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Politics. Edited by Iain McLean and Alistair McMillan, Oxford University Press, 2004.
- Black's Law Dictionary: Definitions of the Terms and Phrases of American and English Jurisprudence, Ancient and Modern. Henry Campbell Black. St. Paul: West Pub. Co., 1979.
