Overview
- The court’s preliminary, unsigned order said the government failed to identify authority that would allow the military to execute the laws in Illinois.
- Justices Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas, and Neil Gorsuch dissented, while Justice Brett Kavanaugh concurred separately.
- U.S. District Judge April Perry first halted the deployment in October, and a 7th Circuit panel largely upheld her ruling after finding no evidence of rebellion and questioning the government’s account of protests.
- The justices indicated that “regular forces” likely means the standing U.S. military and noted such domestic use is permissible only in exceptional circumstances constrained by the Posse Comitatus Act.
- The decision is not final; related challenges in Oregon, California, and Washington, D.C., continue, and some previously dispatched Guard units, including Texas troops sent toward Chicago, have been sent home or remain inactive.