Emergency contexts without emergency powers: The United States' constitutional approach to rights during wartime

Abstract

The article focuses on the U.S. constitutional system with respect to the emergency powers to address circumstances in the exceptional times of crisis such as wars. It discusses several emergency issues in the history of the U.S. that required to accommodate liberal values in extreme political contexts. It also discusses the views of executive unilateralists and civil libertarian idealists regarding the ways to address the emergency issues by the constitutional regime. It focuses on the role of American courts in addressing the emergency issues in the past, and discusses two Civil War-era habeas corpus decisions, Ex parte Milligan and Ex parte McCardle, wherein the Supreme Court examined the power of the executive to order military forces to maintain public order against civilians.