# Martial Law **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 29, 2006, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martial-law/385994 "2006-12-29T15:46:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Lord\_Ashtar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@Lord\_Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Ashtar)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2006, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martial-law/385994/1 "2006-12-29T15:46:59Z")
What steps would GWB, or any U.S. President for that matter, have to take in order to initiate martial law? ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2006, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martial-law/385994/2 "2006-12-29T16:19:58Z")
Martial law is declared by executive order for a specific area, and requires (I think this is spelled out somewhere in statute) a finding that disaster, combat, or civic unrest have led to the total incapacity of the civil authorities to maintain order. The leading court cases on the limits to martial law are from the 1860s, _Ex parte Valladingham_ and _Ex parte Milligan_. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2006, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martial-law/385994/3 "2006-12-29T16:27:37Z")
[QUOTE=Polycarp] Martial law is declared by executive order for a specific area, and requires (I think this is spelled out somewhere in statute) a finding that disaster, combat, or civic unrest have led to the total incapacity of the civil authorities to maintain order. The leading court cases on the limits to martial law are from the 1860s, _Ex parte Valladingham_ and _Ex parte Milligan_. [/QUOTE] Oddly enough, I’m in the middle of a Staff Report on this very issue! Stay tuned… ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2006, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martial-law/385994/4 "2006-12-29T17:05:06Z")
[QUOTE=Bricker] Oddly enough, I’m in the middle of a Staff Report on this very issue! Stay tuned… [/QUOTE] Please hurry. I’m sure the “W is going to declare martial law so he can stay president” threads are coming soon. ---
**Author:** ![Ca3799](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9f8e36/32.png) [@Ca3799](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ca3799)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2006, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martial-law/385994/5 "2006-12-29T17:34:23Z")
According to a realtive of mine, 23 states are currently under martial law already. We just don’t know about it! ---
**Author:** ![groman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/73ab20/32.png) [@groman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/groman)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2006, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martial-law/385994/6 "2006-12-29T18:35:40Z")
[QUOTE=Ca3799] According to a realtive of mine, 23 states are currently under martial law already. We just don’t know about it! [/QUOTE] Not that I agree with your relative, but this isn’t necessarily such an off-the-wall assertion. Depending on how one subjectively defines martial law, that is. The military will always be upset and react if you do something they don’t like. Martial law typically extends ‘things the military doesn’t like’ to overlap with a certain aspect of what people consider ‘normal law’. It doesn’t have to be called ‘martial law’ to be so. If you are consistent in defining what aspects of what you consider to be your freedoms and aspects of normal law and encroached by the military and how, you can fairly reasonably consider some parts of the US (or any other country with a military) to be under martial law right now.