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To: Ernest_at_the_Beach
That question has already been answered resoundingly by the Supreme Court, in ex parte Milligan (1866).

"Martial law ... destroys every guarantee of the Constitution."

"Civil liberty and this kind of martial law cannot endure together; the antagonism is irreconcilable; and, in the conflict, one or the other must perish."

"If, in foreign invasion or civil war, the courts are actually closed, and it is impossible to administer criminal justice according to law, then, on the theatre of active military operations, where war really prevails, there is a necessity to furnish a substitute for the civil authority, thus overthrown, to preserve the safety of the army and society; and as no power is left but the military, it is allowed to govern by martial rule until the laws can have their free course. As necessity creates the rule, so it limits its duration; for, if this government is continued after the courts are reinstated, it is a gross usurpation of power. Martial rule can never exist where the courts are open, and in the proper and unobstructed exercise of their jurisdiction. It is also confined to the locality of actual war."

Presumably, an election may be similarly suspended only in the event that it is impossible to conduct the election. From that moment, the government authority will no longer be exercised under the auspices of the U.S. Constitution.

19 posted on 03/15/2004 6:36:24 PM PST by AntiGuv (When the countdown hits zero, something's gonna happen..)
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To: AntiGuv; Dog Gone; DBrow; spald; metesky; texasflower
Thanks for the item.

Easy everyone!!

Dog gone and I were talking about the Spanish election (on another thread) and the intrusion of the terrorists into the outcome there. It seemed a natural extension to think that Al Queda might try that here and what precedence and thought were in place to handle vital functions like elections.
127 posted on 03/16/2004 6:29:03 AM PST by Ernest_at_the_Beach (The terrorists and their supporters declared war on the United States - and war is what they got!!!!)
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