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The Constitution in Wartime
Findlaw has an excellent essay discussing the history of law in wartime. The author makes the point very elegantly that inter arma silent leges (usually translated "in time of war the law is silent", but I prefer "in the face of arms, the law is silent"). Richard Stallman has an essay on a similar theme, not quite as good, but still worth reading.
Taken from Here.
This nation (The U.S.) has been gearing up for internal problems for many years.
Hundreds of Presidential Executive Orders have been issued to allow emergency powers under any type of crisis - perceived or real. A Presidential Executive Order, whether Constitutional or not, becomes law simply by its publication in the Federal Registry, bypassing Congress completely. Here are just a few Executive Orders that would suspend the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. These Executive Orders have been on record for nearly 30 years and could be enacted by the simple stroke of a presidential pen:
PEO10990 allows the government to take over all modes of transportation and control of highways and seaports.
PEO10995 allows the government to seize and control the communication media.
PEO10997 allows the government to take over all electrical power, gas, petroleum, fuels and minerals.
PEO10998 allows the government to take control of all food sources and farms.
PEO11000 allows the government to mobilize civilians into work brigades under government supervision.
PEO11001 allows the government to take over all health, education and welfare functions.
PEO11002 designates the Postmaster General to operate a national registration of all persons.
PEO11003 allows the government to seize control of all airports and aircraft, including commercial aircraft.
PEO11004 allows the Housing and Finance Authority to relocate communities, build new housing with public funds, designate areas to be abandoned, and establish new locations for populations.
PEO11005 allows the government to take control of railroads, inland waterways and public storage facilities.
PEO11051 specifies the responsibility of the Office of Emergency Planning and gives authorization to put all Executive Orders into effect in times of increased international tensions and economic or financial crisis.
PEO11310 grants authority to the Department of Justice to enforce the plans set out in Executive Orders, to institute industrial support, to establish judicial and legislative liaison, to control all aliens, to operate penal and correctional institutions, and to advise and assist the President.
Without Congressional approval, the President now has the power to transfer whole populations to any part of the country, the power to suspend the Press and to enforce a national registration of all persons. The President, in essence, has dictatorial powers never provided to him under the Constitution. The President has the power to suspend the Bill of Rights in any real or perceived emergency. Unlike Lincoln or Roosevelt, these powers are not derived from any wartime need, but from *any* crisis-- domestic or foreign, hostile or economic.
Scary, huh?