FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
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BALTIMORE, MD – Attorney General Anthony G. Brown today filed an
amicus brief with leaders from 21 states supporting California’s request for a court order
blocking the president’s unlawful federalization and deployment of that state’s National Guard.
“By federalizing the National Guard over Governor Newsom’s objection, President Trump is not
trying to preserve law and order — he is staging political theater by stripping a state of its ability
to protect its own people,” said Attorney General Brown. “This blatant abuse of power violates
our country’s founding principles, which were established to prevent exactly this kind of
overreach. We stand with California — and against the president’s outrageous overreach that
endanger the rights and safety of protesters everywhere, including here in Maryland.”
The brief outlines how Trump’s action is wholly inconsistent with our nation’s founding
principle that freedom depends on the subordination of the military to civilian authority. The
brief states, “By calling forth troops when there is no invasion to repel, no rebellion to suppress,
and when state and local law enforcement is fully able to execute the laws, the President flouts
the vision of our Founders, undermines the rule of law, and sets a chilling precedent that puts the
constitutional rights of Americans in every state at risk.”
The president’s memo federalizing the Guard does not restrict these actions to just Los Angeles,
California, or any specific U.S. region. Instead, it is an unlimited claim of presidential authority
to deploy the National Guards of any state for the next 60 days. The states have an interest in
standing up against this unnecessary and legally unjustified military call-up.
The states also have an interest in ensuring their National Guards are available to perform the
essential services they provide the states on an ongoing basis. They provide critical services
responding to natural disasters, counter-drug operations, and cybersecurity support, among other
daily contributions to public safety. This unlawful federalization pulls volunteer service members
away from performing vital services, and states are not in a position to replace them.
The president’s unlawful and unconstitutional use of the military has exacerbated safety issues
and threatened constitutionally protected activity under the First Amendment. Every state has an
interest in protecting their residents from these threats.
In filing the brief, Attorney General Brown joins the attorneys general of Arizona, Colorado,
Connecticut, Delaware, Hawai‛i, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada,
New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont,
Washington, and Wisconsin. Kansas Governor Laura Kelly also joined the brief.
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