On Dec. 23 the U.S. Supreme Court issued a 25-page ruling to block the deployment of National Guard units in the Chicago area. A preliminary injunction issued by the district court received a partial stay at the circuit court level. The Supreme Court has declined to issue a stay on the district court’s injunction, which is therefore now in effect pending the outcome of the case before the district court.
The Supreme Court ruling states that “The Government has failed to identify a source of authority that would allow the military to execute the laws in Illinois.” This 6-3 ruling is considered a significant setback for the administration’s efforts to send military units into cities across the country.
In September President Trump sent National Guard troops to Chicago, but in October U.S. District Judge April Perry issued her injunction, saying, “I have seen no critical evidence that there is a danger of rebellion in the state of Illinois.” The Trump administration was sued by the governors and attorneys general of Illinois, California and Oregon who argued that the troops were unnecessary, untrained for such missions, and more likely to inflame the situation than calm it. The state of Illinois wrote that its goal in the suit was “to protect its sovereignty, retain control over local policing, and protect the basic structure of American federalism from unprecedented intrusion.”
