What the law says about whether Trump can send troops to Baltimore
- Maryland Forward
- Sep 2
- 1 min read
““The legality of any use of the armed forces domestically is dependent upon which armed forces you’re using, where you are using them and what you are using them for,” said John Dehn, an associate professor and faculty director for the national security and civil rights program at Loyola University Chicago’s School of Law.”
“The Guard can be used to calm civil unrest, as former Gov. Larry Hogan did in 2015 during the uprising following the death of Freddie Gray and former Gov. Spiro Agnew did following Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination in 1968. Maryland’s National Guard troops were also used during the state’s response to the COVID pandemic.
In D.C., which is not a state, the president controls the Guard the same way governors control their militaries.”
“Governors cannot decide to send troops to another state without the other governor’s permission.
That would be an invasion and a violation of a state’s sovereignty under the Constitution, according to Elizabeth Goitein, senior director of the Brennan Center for Justice’s Liberty and National Security Program.
“It’s never happened because it is so plainly unconstitutional,” Goitein said in a virtual press briefing on Trump’s actions.“
See article here:
