Donald Trump may have a major Third Amendment battle on his hands today
Donald Trump’s lawless reign of terror has tested a number of aspects of the Constitution over the past three years. For instance, he constantly stomps on the First Amendment, while urging his violent supporters to abuse the Second Amendment. Most people don’t even know what the Third Amendment is, yet Trump may have just triggered an extraordinarily rare Third Amendment battle.
Republican Senator Mike Lee is claiming on Twitter tonight that Washington DC Mayor Muriel Bowser has kicked National Guard personnel from Utah out of the DC hotel, in an attempt at forcing them to leave the city. We don’t yet know if this is true; Senator Lee could be telling the truth, or he could be mistaken, or he could be lying to try to cause trouble. But if it is true, it’s a big deal – both in a practical and in a constitutional sense.
The Third Amendment says this: “No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.” Of course no U.S. President has ever tried a stunt like this, which is why you never heard about the Third Amendment. But if you interpret the privately owned hotels as being a house, and if the hotel proprietors are on board with not wanting the National Guard in town, then the Mayor would seem to have a clear constitutional basis for kicking them out of the hotel and denying them quarter.
Again, this is all based on the claims of GOP Senator Mike Lee, whose party doesn’t exactly have a track record of honesty these days. But his claims have generated enough controversy tonight that “Third Amendment” is trending on social media – prompting a whole lot of people to try to remember what the heck it even says.
