The Docket: Can The Federal Government Send Troops Into Cities?

Since the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis on Memorial Day, hundreds of thousands of people have been protesting across the country.

In Portland, Oregon, the protests had gone for 50 consecutive nights — until federal officers arrived, grabbing some protestors off the streets, hustling them into unmarked vehicles and detaining them without explanation.

That's according to a lawsuit filed by Oregon's attorney general, which alleges the protesters are neither being arrested — nor told why they’re being held. 

President Trump ratcheted up the tension this week when he said he plans to deploy federal law enforcement to other major American cities, including New York.

Orin Kerr is a professor at Berkeley Law. He says while the federal government does have the right to send troops to cities and states to protect its interests, the issue is what the troops are doing. 

Listen to his conversation with WNYC's Jami Floyd above. 

The Docket is our series in which WNYC’s All Things Considered host Jami Floyd takes a deep dive into the American legal system.