Recently South Koreans were surprised when their president declared martial law, however, after intense backlash it was rescinded just 6 hours later. Now some Americans are asking whether a US president could do the same and the answer is a little unclear. Veuer’s Tony Spitz has the details.
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00:00Recently, South Koreans were surprised when their president declared martial law.
00:04However, after intense backlash, it was rescinded just six hours later.
00:08Now some Americans are asking whether a US president could do the same, and the answer
00:13is a little unclear.
00:14For the uninitiated, martial law is broadly the act by which the military takes over the
00:18governance and jurisdiction of civilians, usually due to an emergency.
00:22However, there is no specific definition, and the term has been used historically to
00:26describe a multitude of actions and in myriad situations.
00:30According to the Brennan Center for Justice, martial law has been enacted in the US over
00:3460 times, but those were all local and state emergencies, not federal.
00:38A 1952 ruling by the Supreme Court seems to outline the ability of a president to exercise
00:44such a power federally, but it would not allow a president to use it to circumvent Congress,
00:49like what South Korea's President Yun attempted to do with his declaration.
00:53However, if a US president had quote, conclusive and preclusive power over a particular issue,
00:58as per the Constitution, they could declare it unilaterally.
01:02Still, Congress holds the power to regulate how the military is deployed domestically,
01:06and those laws are exhaustive, especially with regards to the military acting as law
01:10enforcement.
01:11Though, for anyone keeping track, Donald Trump and the Republican Party will control the
01:15executive branch, the Senate, and the House, all with a stacked Supreme Court.