Adopted in the 19th century, the Insurrection ACT authorized the President of the United States to deploy military forces active on American soil for missions under the maintenance of order. This appeal may be justified, according to the head of state, in the event of“Illegal obstructions, crowds or rebellion acts” making the normal application of federal laws impossible by conventional judicial pathways.
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Once the law is invoked, the armed forces can be mobilized to suppress civilian problems, have court decisions execute or even arrest migrants in an irregular situation. The measure includes the possibility of deploying the National Guard, a military force generally reserved for interior emergencies and natural disasters.
But the deliberately vague formulation of the law leaves great latitude of interpretation to the president, who can decide alone of the moment and the conditions under which the military forces can intervene within the country. A power as wide as they are controversial.
What are the conditions for this law to be applied?
For the ACT insurrection to be activated, several conditions must be met:
- First, it must be a major crisis, a large -scale insurrection directly threatening public order and the domestic stability of the country.
- Then, the local authorities must be overwhelmed: if the state concerned is no longer able to contain violence with its own forces (police, national guard), the federal intervention can then be envisaged.
- Finally, the decision returns exclusively to the President of the United States. He alone can trigger the use of the federal army to restore order.
In short, this law mobilizes the army as a last resort, when the situation has degenerated to the point of seriously compromising internal security.
Has this law already been used in the past?
The ACT insurrection has only been invoked in the history of the United States. Abraham Lincoln used it during the Civil War, faced with the rebellion of the southern states. After the conflict, President Ulysses S. Grant activated it to suppress the racist violence perpetrated by the Ku Klux Klan.
Dwight D. Eisenhower mobilizes the army to escort nine black high school students
In the 20th century, in 1957, Dwight D. Eisenhower mobilized the army to escort nine black high school students to their establishment in Little Rock, Arkansas, in response to the local governor’s refusal to apply a federal decision on educational desegration.
More recently, in 1992, violent riots broke out in Los Angeles after the acquittal of four white police officers involved in the Tobacco passage by Rodney King, a black motorist. President George HW Bush then deploys the Marines, the Army and the National Guard to restore order. In 2020, at the height of the demonstrations triggered by the death of George FloydDonald Trump has publicly threatened to use the Act insurrection, accusing several democratic cities of letting the situation degenerate. If the law was ultimately not activated, CNN revealed that the president had consulted his relatives at the White House on the possibility of mobilizing the army, without making a final decision. An initiative that had aroused a keen debate on the limits of the presidential power in time of inner crisis.
Are there limits to this law?
Traditionally, the American government has always sought to strictly frame the use of military force on its own soil, especially when it comes to acting against American citizens. Adopted in 1878, the Posse Comitatus Act prohibits the army from intervening as an internal police force. In the event of troubles, it is generally the states themselves that mobilize their national guard to restore order.
Since his return to the front of the political scene, Donald Trump has however extended his prerogatives by declaring several national emergency states, which allows him to access exceptional powers and resources. He thus imposed customs duties and more controversially taken measures in the migratory field.
In March, after having declared the state of emergency on the southern border, the former president invoked an almost forgotten law of 1798, the Alien Enemies Act, to expel migrants whom he accused of being members of gangs. In April, the Supreme Court temporarily blocked this initiative. If Donald Trump decided to activate the Act insurrection, today he remains uncertain of what legal remedies could oppose such a decision.
