West Virginia's Guard in D. C. : A Legal Showdown

A legal battle is heating up in West Virginia. A local group is suing the state's governor. They say he broke the rules by sending National Guard troops to Washington, D. C. The governor's office disagrees. They believe federal law backs up their decision. This isn't the first time this issue has been in court. Over the past few weeks, there have been multiple hearings. The latest one is set for Monday afternoon. The case is about whether Governor Patrick Morrisey had the right to send up to 300 Guard members to D. C. The West Virginia Citizen Action Group argues that the governor overstepped his authority. State law, they say, only allows the National Guard to be deployed out of state for specific reasons. Things like natural disasters or helping another state in an emergency. They don't see this situation as fitting those criteria. The governor's office, however, believes federal law supports their actions. They point to an executive order issued by President Donald Trump in August. This order declared a crime emergency in the nation's capital. Despite this, the U. S. Justice Department reports that violent crime in D. C. is at a 30-year low. The case has seen some twists and turns. At an initial hearing, the civic group argued that the deployment has forced them to shift their focus away from their main mission. That mission is government accountability and transparency. The state attorney general's office, however, argued that the group hasn't been directly harmed and therefore lacks standing to challenge the governor's decision. The judge in the case, Kanawha County Circuit Judge Richard Lindsay, has continued the hearings after asking for more specific arguments on the legality of the deployment. After hearing one witness testify for the plaintiff group, he decided to continue the case again. The deployment of the West Virginia National Guard to D. C. was initially set to last until the end of November. However, there's talk of extending it. The state National Guard is consulting with the governor's office and others about this possibility. Formal orders were recently issued to extend the deployment of the Washington D. C. National Guard in the city through the end of February. This situation is part of a larger effort by President Trump to send military personnel to Democratic-run cities. It has sparked a whirlwind of lawsuits and overlapping court rulings. West Virginia is just one of several states that have sent National Guard members to the nation's capital. Within a month of the executive order, over 2, 300 Guard troops from eight states and the district were patrolling under the Army secretary's command. Trump also deployed hundreds of federal agents to assist them.