Military Law,
Constitutional Law
Aug. 6, 2025
Historic trial to test limits of military power in US law enforcement
A San Francisco federal judge will hear a landmark trial Monday on whether the Trump administration's use of the California National Guard and U.S. Marines in law enforcement operations violated the 1878 Posse Comitatus Act.




The Posse Comitatus Act of 1878, a post-Reconstruction law that bars the use of military troops for domestic law enforcement, will head to a bench trial Monday for the first time in American history to determine if the Trump administration's federalization of the California National Guard and deployment of the Marines is legal.
Senior U.S. District Judge Charles R. Breyer will preside over the bench trial in San Francisco, which is scheduled to last three days. Newsom et a...
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