2006-12-18 03:30:28 · 6 answers · asked by samtheman 3 in Politics & Government ➔ Law & Ethics
Yes, at least four times.
Louisiana during the war of 1812.
Tennessee during the Civil War
Hawaii during WWII, though it was a territory at the time rather than a state.
New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina (though Louisiana doesn't have an actual State Law providing for Martial Law so they weren't technically under Martial Law but the effect was the same. It was called a State of Emergency instead.)
2006-12-18 03:36:09 · answer #1 · answered by Digital Haruspex 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The whole country has never been put under marshal law, which nullifies all civilian laws and places the country under full military control. Laws were implemented in the past to prevent this from being exercised as long as our courts and some portion of government was still capable of functioning.
However - the neocons tried to claim the power to implement this under FEMA under the Reagan presidency as part of the Iran-Contra shenanigans - records are now sealed by order of president Bush.
The most recent congress and the current Bush administration has signed a law giving this power exclusively to the President (John Warner Defense Authorization Act of 2007)
It ""allows the President to declare a "public emergency" and station troops anywhere in America and take control of state-based National Guard units without the consent of the governor or local authorities.""
2006-12-18 11:47:07 · answer #2 · answered by oohhbother 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes, but only in isolated cases and not throughout the whole US:
Civil War: At the outbreak of the Civil War, John C. Frémont was given Union command of the western department where he declared martial law in his area.
Scranton, Pennsylvania: When the railroad arrived in 1853, it provided an outlet for the iron industry and the coal mines. The population rose to 9,000 by 1860. Scranton absorbed some of its suburbs in 1866 and was chartered as a city. A bitter strike in 1877 resulted in the imposition of martial law and the collapse of the miners' union.
New Mexico: The Territory of New Mexico was organized in 1850. The Gadsden Purchase added more territory, and the final boundaries were settled in 1863. Disputes between cattlemen and others led to the Lincoln County War in the 1870s, which required the territorial government to apply martial law and use troops to restore order.
Idaho: The 1890s saw the development of organized labor in the notoriously dangerous mining industry. Unions strove for higher wages and better working conditions; owners often fired union members and brought in strikebreakers. Violence erupted from a strike at a mine near Wallace in 1892; the governor sought to restore order by declaring martial law and calling for federal soldiers.
2006-12-18 11:48:17 · answer #3 · answered by nw_big_skies 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think Lincoln did it during the civil war, but I'm not certain of that. On a smaller scale, Marshall law was declared after the San Fransisco 'quake of 1905.
2006-12-18 11:33:21 · answer #4 · answered by mad_mav70 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes, martial law was declared during WWII
2006-12-18 11:32:51 · answer #5 · answered by your_name_here 3 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Soon....VERY SOON.
2006-12-18 11:50:26 · answer #6 · answered by tat2me1960 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋