by
David
McNew/Getty
Images)
Is
it
legal
for
Donald
Trump
to
seize
control
of
the
National
Guard
to
assist
ICE
over
the
objections
of
state
government?
Probably
not.
Despite
what
the
current
Supreme
Court
might
say,
the
Tenth
Amendment
isn’t
just
for
forced
birthing
after
all.
Is
it
legal
to
send
in
the
Marines?
Even
more
probably
not.
But
Elon
Musk
publicly
posted
that
Donald
Trump
is
in
the
Epstein
files
so
now
we’ve
got
to
have
martial
law
to
change
the
headlines.
Sorry,
that’s
just
how
the
world
works!
Trump’s
current
justification
for
the
move
—
though
it’s
worth
noting
this
administration
plays
whack-a-mole
with
legal
arguments
all
the
time,
so
this
may
not
last
—
is
that
protesting
ICE
disappearing
people
from
their
workplaces
amounts
to
a
“rebellion
or
danger
of
rebellion.”
The
specific
statutory
justification,
for
now,
falls
short
of
the
full
fall
of
Weimar
wet
dream
that
is
the
Insurrection
Act.
As
is,
the
troops
can
only
support
ICE
and
not
actively
police
protests.
Either
way
though,
it
still
seems
that
the
LA
protests
fall
well
short
of
a
rebellion
since
most
rebellions
notably
boast
less
line
dancing.
However,
it’s
exciting
times
for
law
professors
already
working
on
their
next
final.
https://www.instagram.com/p/DKsjq2CBXKI
Silly
meme…
assuming
we’ll
still
have
“Constitutional
Law”
by
next
semester.
But
buried
just
beneath
this
top
line
Constitutional
crisis
is
another
one
that
law
students
joke
about
but
never
seriously
thought
might
come
up
in
their
lifetimes.
THIRD
AMENDMENT
AVENGERS
ASSEMBLE!!!
The
Third
Amendment,
of
course,
reads
that
“No
Soldier
shall,
in
time
of
peace
be
quartered
in
any
house,
without
the
consent
of
the
Owner,
nor
in
time
of
war,
but
in
a
manner
to
be
prescribed
by
law.”
It’s
been
such
a
wildly
uncontroversial
provision
that
the
Supreme
Court
has
never
explicitly
touched
on
it.
The
closest
any
court
has
come
to
fleshing
out
the
scope
of
the
amendment
is
Engblom
v.
Carey,
where
the
Second
Circuit
ruled
that
state
corrections
officers
living
in
state
housing
couldn’t
be
kicked
out
and
replaced
by
the
National
Guard
just
because
they
were
striking.
And
even
that
decision
is
more
about
who
owns
the
right
to
the
“house.”
Despite
laying
low
for
a
couple
centuries,
the
Third
Amendment
was
made
for
this
moment.
For
now,
the
National
Guard
troops
that
Trump
called
up
are
sleeping
on
the
floor.
That
might
be
good
enough
for
Trump
who
already
seized
control
of
the
units
without
bothering
to
figure
out
where
they
would
sleep.
Will
the
government
try
to
press
the
issue
and
commandeer
better
space
for
them?
The
Third
Amendment
faithful
are
ready
for
that
fight.
Everyone’s
pretty
cocky
about
this
subject
right
now,
but
they
might
not
fully
appreciate
the
right-wing’s
growing
antipathy
toward
the
Third
Amendment,
which
they’ve
decided
no
longer
matters
because
a
rent
moratorium
happened
under
the
Biden
administration.
Really
makes
sense
the
less
you
think
about
it.
This
isn’t
just
a
conspiracy…
it
made
its
way
into
a
brief
by
a
bunch
of
landlords
angry
about
the
eviction
freeze.
The
argument
was,
and
is,
quite
stupid.
But
it
should
give
everyone
pause
that
the
echo
chamber
Trump
lives
in
has
already
started
normalizing
the
idea
of
ignoring
the
Third
Amendment.
And
Trump
stoked
Third
Amendment
doubters
during
his
first
term
when
he
fancied
more
and
more
military
presence
in
response
to
police
brutality
protests
following
the
murder
of
George
Floyd.
Nothing
came
of
it
at
the
time
as
active-duty
forces
were
never
deployed
and
the
government
found
places
to
put
up
the
Guard,
but
it
got
critics
agitated
about
the
practice
and
his
apologists
geared
up
with
excuses.
The
closest
the
country’s
come
to
a
full-blown
Third
Amendment
dispute
happened
in
Washington
D.C.
when
Trump
placed
a
Utah
National
Guard
contingent
called
up
in
response
to
the
Floyd
protest
in
a
hotel
booked
to
house
Guard
units
called
up
for
COVID
response.
The
Mayor
demanded
the
troops
outside
the
scope
of
the
hotel
contract
leave.
Trump
blathered
about
it,
but
ultimately
the
Utah
troops
moved
hotels
without
anyone
ever
explicitly
pushing
the
Third
Amendment
issue.
But
the
pump
was
primed
and
the
issue
might
become
ripe
sooner
rather
than
later.
ICE
agents
are
not,
technically
speaking,
soldiers.
But
when
does
law
enforcement
become
militarized
enough
to
count
as
a
soldier?
The
history
and
tradition
of
the
amendment
would
seem
more
concerned
with
guaranteeing
the
right
to
exclude
government
personnel
from
your
property,
having
been
conceived
as
a
direct
response
to
the
British
quartering
acts
compelling
the
owners
of
“inns, livery
stables,
ale
houses,
victualing
houses,”
etc.
to
let
Redcoats
crash
on
their
couch.
And
it’s
as
important
as
ever,
because
no
one
wants
JD
Vance
on
their
couch.
As
long
as
AC
Hotel
remains
an
outlier,
the
Trump
administration
will
probably
just
shuttle
its
personnel
to
another
hotel.
But
if
more
lodging
establishments
follow
their
lead,
this
is
exactly
the
administration
that
could
test
Third
Amendment
waters.
This
is
all,
of
course,
bad
news
for
America’s
most
successful
advocacy
group
according
to
The
Onion.
Well,
it
was
a
good
run.