What is the Insurrection Act?
Asked 3 hours ago
Answer
The Insurrection Act is a series of federal laws allowing the president to deploy the military domestically in cases of rebellion, insurrection, or when state authorities cannot enforce federal law. It is a rare exception to the Posse Comitatus Act, has broad language granting significant presidential discretion, and has been invoked 32 times in U.S. history, usually with state cooperation.
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References
The Act allows the president to deploy military forces as law enforcement if a state's legislature or governor requests help against rebellion, to counter obstructions to enforcing U.S. laws, to suppress conspiracies denying constitutional rights, or to combat insurrections interfering with federal law.
The language of the Insurrection Act is intentionally broad to address major breakdowns in law and order, such as when normal judicial proceedings cannot enforce federal law or constitutional rights are infringed and the state does not intervene.
