US federal judge denies California request to block deployment of troops to Los Angeles News
U.S. Northern Command, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
US federal judge denies California request to block deployment of troops to Los Angeles

A US federal judge on Tuesday denied a request by the state of California for an emergency order blocking the deployment of additional federalized National Guard troops and US Marines to the Los Angeles area.

President Donald Trump deployed the National Guard to Los Angeles last weekend in response to protests against the administration’s immigration enforcement practices. California Governor Gavin Newsom filed a lawsuit against Trump and sought a temporary restraining order to prevent the mobilization of the National Guard for law enforcement activities without state consent.

Newsom argued that the deployment of the National Guard violates state sovereignty and poses an immediate threat to public safety and civil order. Newsom also argued that the Posse Comitatus Act has historically prohibited the use of active duty armed forces and federalized National Guard for civilian law enforcement. Therefore, the use of “federalized National Guard troops and Marines to accompany federal immigration enforcement officers on raids throughout Los Angeles,” is unlawful.

Judge Charles Breyer denied Newsom’s request and scheduled a hearing for Thursday afternoon in San Francisco federal court.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Guiteau tried for assassinating US President Garfield

On November 14, 1881, Charles Guiteau went on trial for the assassination of US President James A. Garfield. The trial of Guiteau pointed to problems with nineteenth-century law's treatment of insanity; Guiteau's trial is also problematic in retrospect as Garfield's death was immediately attributable not to Guiteau, but to Garfield's doctors who—before sterilization was well understood—repeated probed his wound with unwashed hands while searching for an embedded bullet.