Republican candidate for governor Semi Bird wants to use the Washington National Guard to solve homelessness. The legality of that idea is an open question according to legal scholars.
Bird’s campaign website says that if he is elected governor he will declare a state of emergency and deploy the national guard…under Article 3, Section 8 of the Washington state constitution].
University of Washington law school professor Hugh Spitzer, a leading state constitution scholar, thinks it is unlikely Bird could actually make such a move.
Cornel Clayton, a Washington State University political science professor and the director of the Thomas S. Foley Institute of Public Policy and Public Service, expressed similar skepticism.
“My initial reaction is that this is not what that clause in the constitution was intended for. Rather, it contemplates calling up the national guard during an emergency,” Clayton said.
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KHQ