FOLLOW US

Note: Neither the writer of this story nor The USA Herald takes a position on the use of martial law. We neither endorse nor condemn it. This piece is simply an examination of the law.

As the Supreme Court has decided to take a backseat to the latest election challenge, and with time running out, many supporters of President Donald Trump have called for martial law.

Most notable among them was former national security advisor Michael Flynn who retweeted a full-page ad that ran in The Washington Times that said it was necessary to avoid a real Civil War.

"We wanted to express our concerns to the President, to the legislators, courts, and Congress that We the People will NOT cede our exclusive Constitutional right to elect our Representatives to judges, lawyers, courts, Governors, Secretary’s of State, Congress, corrupt election officials and local politicians, the corrupt media - or Leftist threats of violence! It is OUR EXCLUSIVE RIGHT to elect our President and that sacred right has been infringed by the massive, planned, illegal election fraud conducted by corrupt Democrat/Socialist Party operatives across our nation to steal our vote. We will NOT stand for it,” Tom Zawistowski, President of the TEA Party affiliated We the People Convention said.

But what is martial law and can the president declare it to stay in power??

To put it simply, martial law is the suspension of the constitution and a take over by the military of policing, courts, and many aspects of daily life are run by the armed forces.

It notably happened in Hawaii in 1942 after the attack on Pearl Harbor where even trash pickup was handled by the military.

The thing that can be frightening about it is that there are no constraints on martial law by the Constitution, which does not really touch on it much.

Martial Law can be called when a civilian rule fails, something that could have, and many people believe should have, happened during the months-long nationwide race riots.

In fact, there is no precise definition of martial law, which is described by JRANK as a time when “certain civil liberties may be suspended, such as the right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures, freedom of association, and freedom of movement. And the writ of habeas corpus [the right to a trial before imprisonment] may be suspended.”

It has been declared 68 times either locally or federally in the United States but the law is murky on the reasons needed for the president to declare it and what it would mean if he did.