Banks writes about martial law and the pandemic in The Atlantic

March 27, 2020

The Atlantic

William C. Banks

Public Administration & International Affairs Department

COVID-19

Federal

U.S. National Security

United States

The Atlantic

William C. Banks

"If martial law were invoked, the government would be conducted ad hoc by the president or a military commander based entirely on his or her opinion of what was needed to meet the emergency, unbound by any laws and with no transparency or public participation, and probably no accountability afterward," writes Professor Emeritus William C. Banks. "The result would be entirely unpredictable and unprincipled, a dangerous threat to American democracy." His co-authored article "Martial Law Would Sweep the Country Into a Great Legal Unknown," was published in The Atlantic. 03/27/20