A situation which arrises when
extreme internal strife affects a
nation. Something you probably don't want happening, and a reason some
paranoid people cling to the
2nd AmendmentExerpts from Grolier's:
Martial law is the temporary substitution of military authority for civil rule, usually in time of war, rebellion, or natural disaster. Martial law is not law in the formal sense but merely the substitution of military procedures for the usual procedures of law and the courts.
The U.S. Constitution makes no specific provision for the imposition of martial law. However, Article I, Section 9, allows the suspension of the privilege of Habeas Corpus when, because of rebellion or invasion, the public safety warrants it. States have the power to declare martial law when it is deemed necessary for the public safety. The president is empowered by law to declare martial law to protect states against invasion and--when a state so requests--against domestic violence.
Martial law was proclaimed twice by Abraham Lincoln, the only instances of its use by an American president. More frequently it has been employed by state executives and by autocratic national rulers seeking to rule by decree, such as Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos, who invoked it in 1972