Posse Comitatus This, B*tch – Above the Law

Today,
Judge
Charles
Breyer
issued
an
injunction
barring
Donald
Trump
from
his
takeover
of
Los
Angles,
holding
the
deployment
of
troops
violated
the
Posse
Comitatus
Act.
And
the
senior
judge
from
the
Northern
District
of
California
pulled
exactly
zero
punches
calling
out
the
administration
for
its
illegal
activities.

Congress
spoke
clearly
in
1878
when
it
passed
the
Posse
Comitatus
Act,
prohibiting
the
use
of
the
U.S.
military
to
execute
domestic
law.
Nearly
140
years
later,
Defendants—
President
Trump,
Secretary
of
Defense
Hegseth,
and
the
Department
of
Defense—
deployed
the
National
Guard
and
Marines
to
Los
Angeles,
ostensibly
to
quell
a
rebellion
and
ensure
that
federal
immigration
law
was
enforced.
There
were
indeed
protests
in
Los
Angeles,
and
some
individuals
engaged
in
violence.
Yet
there
was
no
rebellion,
nor
was
civilian
law
enforcement
unable
to
respond
to
the
protests
and
enforce
the
law.

Nevertheless,
at
Defendants’
orders
and
contrary
to
Congress’s
explicit
instruction,
federal
troops
executed
the
laws.
The
evidence
at
trial
established
that
Defendants
systematically
used
armed
soldiers
(whose
identity
was
often
obscured
by
protective
armor)
and
military
vehicles
to
set
up
protective
perimeters
and
traffic
blockades,
engage
in
crowd
control,
and
otherwise
demonstrate
a
military
presence
in
and
around
Los
Angeles.
In
short,
Defendants
violated
the
Posse
Comitatus
Act.

The
52-page
decision
also
noted
that
the
L.A.
takeover
was
but
the
first
step
for
the
administration
—
Washington,
D.C.
(and
maybe
Chicago,
we’ll
see
what
Trump
says
at
2
p.m.
today)
faced
similar
military
encroachments.
“President
Trump
and
Secretary
Hegseth
have
stated
their
intention
to
call
National
Guard
troops
into
service
in
other
cities
across
the
country,”
Breyer
wrote,
“…
thus
creating
a
national
police
force
with
the
President
as
its
chief.”

Breyer
stayed
his
own
order
for
10
days,
in
order
to
afford
the
federal
government
the
opportunity
to
appeal,
which
they
almost
certainly
will.

Score
one
for
the
rule
of
law.
Now
let’s
see
if
the
administration
actually
listens
to
the
courts.

Read
the
full
decision
below.

---

Kathryn
Rubino
is
a
Senior
Editor
at
Above
the
Law,
host
of

The
Jabot
podcast,
and
co-host
of

Thinking
Like
A
Lawyer.
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