On the eve of President Donald Trump placing U.S. troops in the nation’s capital, a federal judge in California was flummoxed by the government’s newly adopted stance that the White House can deploy soldiers to back up cops — anywhere, anytime.
Trump’s use of Marines and the unusual commandeering of California’s National Guard in Los Angeles this summer is now under scrutiny. At a brief trial that’s coming to a close in San Francisco, Senior District Judge Charles R. Breyer on Tuesday asked to know where the federal government now draws the line, particularly when the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878 imposes strict antiauthoritarian limits to avoid using the military in a policing capacity.
“Is there any limitation to the use of federal forces? Because it is a common occurrence in our experience that law enforcement at every level is a dangerous profession, and it carries with it dangers,” Breyer said.