{"id":482,"date":"2026-06-15T20:07:29","date_gmt":"2026-06-15T20:07:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=482"},"modified":"2026-06-15T20:07:29","modified_gmt":"2026-06-15T20:07:29","slug":"did-optics-prevent-invoking-of-insurrection-act-and-suspension-of-habeas-corpus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=482","title":{"rendered":"Did Optics Prevent Invoking of Insurrection Act and Suspension of Habeas Corpus?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Did you know that Truthout is a nonprofit and independently funded by readers like you? If you value what we do, please support our work with <\/span><\/i>a donation<\/span><\/i>.<\/p>\n

Read more Trump Demands GOP-Controlled House Expel Dem Lawmaker Jamie Raskin<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

A Monday report in The New York Times <\/em>revealed what it described as the \u201calarm\u201d felt by some White House lawyers at proposals made earlier this year by Vice President JD Vance and Trump adviser Stephen Miller as the administration was forced to contend with widespread anger over its anti-immigration agenda.<\/p>\n

Among other things, the Times<\/em> reported that Vance pushed for President Donald Trump to invoke the Insurrection Act, which would allow for the US military to be deployed on American streets, in an effort to shut down mass protests in Minnesota against federal immigration enforcement operations in the state.<\/p>\n

A few days after US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers fatally shot demonstrator Alex Pretti in the streets of Minneapolis, the Times <\/em>reported that Vance \u2014 who had also elevated a baseless claim by Miller that Pretti had been a \u201cwould-be assassin\u201d \u2014 said invoking the Insurrection Act was necessary \u201cto crush the unrest in Minnesota.\u201d<\/p>\n

Vance also believed invoking the law would send a \u201cmessage\u201d that \u201cpaid agitators could not get away with disrupting ICE operations\u201d \u2014 even though, as the Times<\/em> noted, there is no evidence that Pretti; demonstrator Renee Good, who was also killed by federal agents; or any other organizers in Minnesota or elsewhere received any money in exchange for protesting.<\/p>\n

However, right-wing attorney Will Scharf quickly shot down Vance\u2019s suggestion, noting that the Insurrection Act is an instrument aimed at putting down armed rebellions rather than groups of citizens blowing whistles at ICE officers.<\/p>\n

Former White House Deputy Chief of Staff James Blair then made the political case against invoking the Insurrection Act.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe scenes of federal agents in Minnesota already looked chaotic, he said, and the public was recoiling,\u201d reported the Times<\/em>. \u201cHe put three questions to the room: What does the Insurrection Act give us that we don\u2019t already have? What changes on the ground would be worth the heat? What else could they win that would justify the public relations cost?\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more US Is Terrorizing Its Own Citizens With \u201cLess-Lethal\u201d Weapons, Victim Says<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThe room was quiet,\u201d the Times<\/em> added. \u201cNobody had a good answer.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Times <\/em>report also revealed that Trump adviser Stephen Miller, Trump\u2019s homeland security adviser and deputy chief of staff, repeatedly pushed the president to suspend the writ of habeas corpus for undocumented immigrants, which would give the administration the power to carry out mass deportations without being subjected to judicial oversight.<\/p>\n

As in the case of Vance\u2019s proposal, Scharf pushed back against Miller\u2019s suggestion, noting that courts have long held that habeas corpus cannot be suspended unilaterally by the president and must be done by an act of Congress.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven where Congress has explicitly suspended habeas corpus rights,\u201d Scharf wrote in a legal memo obtained by the Times<\/em>, \u201cthe Supreme Court has held that some alternative process must be provided to defendants, with procedural safeguards akin to a habeas corpus action.\u201d<\/p>\n

Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, senior fellow at the American Immigration Council, said the Times<\/em>\u2019 reporting showed Miller \u201cwould happily shred the Constitution into little pieces if he could,\u201d before hopefully noting that \u201ceven he wasn\u2019t powerful enough to do it\u201d in this instance.<\/p>\n

University of Michigan Law School Professor Leah Litman argued that the Times<\/em> report showed some in the administration were at least still somewhat conscious of public opinion when making decisions.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the story about the administration weighing suspending habeas corpus and invoking the Insurrection Act, what moved the needle against the Insurrection Act was concern about \u2018public relations,\u2019\u201d Litman wrote. \u201cPublic pushback, agitation, and outcry can work. Even now. Keep it up.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Congenital Syphilis Skyrockets as US Has Shortage of Drug That Treats It<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cPublic pushback, agitation, and outcry can work. Even now. Keep it up,\u201d said law professor Leah Litman.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":481,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-482","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"\nDid Optics Prevent Invoking of Insurrection Act and Suspension of Habeas Corpus? - Smart Moving Home<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=482\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Did Optics Prevent Invoking of Insurrection Act and Suspension of Habeas Corpus? - Smart Moving Home\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u201cPublic pushback, agitation, and outcry can work. 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