President Donald Trump has threatened to deploy the military across the country. In order to quell the riots and unrest in the wake of the George Floyd killing.

Fear is raising over the possibility of this law in the US if the situation continues.

Martial law

Trump stated that he wants to establish an overwhelming law enforcement presence until the violance has been quelled.

There’s a chance that Insurrection Act of 1807 will invoke.

Namely, it is a federal law that governs the ability of the President of the United States to deploy military troops. However, only within the US to suppress civil disorder, insurrection and rebellion.

It can be declared in a situation where there is near-violent civil unrest or major natural disasters.

Main features involve curfews, the suspension of civil law, livil rights and habeas corpus, the application of military law or military justice to civilians.

Additionally, it involves civilians defying this law being subjected to military tribunes.

Although the legal effects are different depending on where it is, it usually involves the suspension of civil rights.

A state of martial law is usually temporary, but in theory could continue indefinitely.

Civil courts do not review the decisions of tribunals which are set up by military authorities.

Moreover,  there is little knowledge on what remedies there are against potential situations. Which are involving the military abusing their position of power.

History of the law

As history teaches us, there are some occasions where Martial Law made huge changes.

They have included placing New Orleans under this law during The War of 1812 an imposing it in parts of Illinois during the Illinois Mormon War in 1843.

Chicago also was under it following the Great Chicago Fire in 1871.

Other incidents have included after the San Francisco Earthquake of 1906, and in West Virginia during the Coal Wars of 1920-21.

Minneapolis was also under martial law in 1934 due to escalating violence during the city’s general strike.

Furthermore, the Territory of Hawaii was under it from 1941 to 1944 following the attack on Pearl Harbour.

Recently , martial law was declared in Alabama in 1961 as a result of the ‘freedom riders’, peaceful activists who were challenging racial segregation in the south.

In three days, COVID-19 cases more than doubled, and further rose to over 6000 on 17 March with death cases over 100. Now, U.S. are dealing with more than 250.000 confirmed cases and more than 2900 deaths.

Therefore, the biggest problems, for now, are delayed testing and a community spread, because not enough test kits are available across states.

Furthermore, the first coronavirus case in the US was reported on 21 January but the cases soared from the second half of February.

In that light, new and more radical measures are up to tackle the virus, like the above mentioned domestic travel ban, among other necessary measures.

Domestic travel ban restrictions came from CDC’s advisory on travel inside the United States

The notion of domestic travel ban came on Wednesday as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued an advisory regarding travel within the U.S. The advisory was announced on CDC’s website with the headline saying: “Should I travel within the United States?”

Furthermore, it is stated that usually, CDC isn’t issuing advisories or restrictions for travel within the States.

In that light, CDC advises that places like airports or travel settings that are crowded should be avoided as being there increases chances for infection.

Moreover, CDC suggests things to consider before traveling like to check is COVID-19 spreading in the area where a passenger is going.

Therefore, questions like “who will be your travel companion and in which age group does he/she fit” or “do you have a what-to-do plan in case you are told to stay in quarantine”, should be asked before the travel.

Given the circumstances, President Trump and Vice President Mike Pence announced that the government is considering a domestic travel ban to prevent the spread of the pandemic.

Furthermore, the domestic travel ban will help prevent crowds and for infected people to transmit the virus to healthy people.

The United Kingdom and Ireland – Restricted once agian

The United Kingdom and Ireland are added to the Europe travel restrictions, as the number of cases in those countries soared immensely in the last few days.

These restrictions imply that residents of the U.K. and Ireland are excluded from traveling to the U.S. for 30 days, from Monday.

Also, since other countries are under lockdown as well, it’s certainly recommended not to travel.

Nevertheless, airlines are most likely going to sharply cut flights between the U.S. and London and Ireland.

Furthermore, Delta and American Airlines banned all flights between the States and the 26 European countries.

Justifiably, President Trump said that he would recommend against traveling and that in America’s best interest is the prevention of new people getting infected.

Therefore, the domestic travel ban is probably the most efficient measure with the effect to instantly slow down the spread of COVID-19, among other measures considered.

However, domestic travel ban with the extension of domestic flight restriction would additionally disable an already struggling U.S. airline industry and cause more cuts in flights.

Moreover, Southwest Airlines, America’s largest domestic carrier, is probably going to face extreme hit in flights as they already have had a “9/11-like” drop in bookings.

As we all see, the government is considering and assembling many methods to stop the virus. For now, the best thing that can be done is to slack the spread, at least until the vaccines for COVID-19 come to light.

Anyhow, the domestic travel ban is, for now, probably the best measure to suppress the virus and not just in the U.S. but in many other countries.