(9. September 2019)

After the Sept. 11 attacks, an American citizen who had been arrested in Chicago and accused of terrorism links was deemed to be an “enemy combatant” and transferred to military custody. He was held in wartime detention without trial for years, then transferred back to the civilian justice system before the Supreme Court could resolve his case. In 2011, an American drone strike targeted and killed an American citizen who had been deemed to be an operational terrorist leader whose capture was infeasible, but who had not been charged or convicted in a trial. In 2019, the executive branch was reported to be considering invoking the Insurrection Act to deploy military forces on domestic soil to enforce immigration laws.

Are any of these examples unlawful? Under what circumstances, if any, may a president use military force within the United States or against Americans?