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Professor Gerard Magliocca talked with an Indianapolis television news station regarding whether the President of the United States could declare martial law during his final week in office. The question came through WTHR’s Verify news team in the wake of the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on January 6.

Martial law refers to emergency situations in which the military steps in and takes control from civilian authorities. Under martial law, local courts are replaced by military tribunals and decisions rest with military commanders rather than elected officials. Martial law has been invoked dozens of times during wartime, but not since the attack on Pearl Harbor almost 80 years ago.

Professor Magliocca said in the January 12 story: "That's about as likely as the Loch Ness Monster coming to downtown Indianapolis.” He went on to explain in the story the president and state leaders commonly call out the National Guard to assist local authorities during times of disaster and unrest. But that is not the same as martial law, which allows the military to take full control.

Professor Magliocca, a well-known constitutional law scholar, is the Samuel R. Rosen Professor of Law at IU McKinney. He is the author of four books, the latest of which, The Heart of the Constitution: How the Bill of Rights Became the Bill of Rights, was published by Oxford University Press in 2018. He also is the author of over 20 articles on constitutional law and intellectual property. He was named to the 2020-2021 class of fellows for the Fred W. Smith National Library for the Study of George Washington at Mount Vernon.