Martial Aw in Hawaii Essays

Submitted By noobdik
Words: 367
Pages: 2

Soon after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941, Hawaii was considered as a potential war zone at risk of invasion, rebellion, and possible refugees. The territorial government began to realise that Hawaii was in danger and suspended the writ of Habeas Corpus - the constitutional protection against being imprisoned or detained without judicial approval - therefore it was imperative that Hawaii went under Martial Law. Lieutenant General Walter C. Short, Military commander of Oahu, declared himself Military governor and took charge of the Martial Law (White). The Martial Law, is when the military government is granted control of ordinary law and suspension of law is necessary in order to protect the country or state at risk. Although the Martial Law should have ended earlier, it was unnecessarily extended to November 1944. In 1946, the U.S. supreme court declared the Martial Law in Hawaii to be unconstitutional (“Hawaiihistory.org”). In order for Hawaii to be in a proper state of defense, Lieutenant General Short had hoped the people of Hawaii would cheerfully accept the new laws and if not, the others would be required to do so through severe punishment through military tribunals or held in custody (Garner). Due to the military taking over the government and safety of the islands, this put many restrictions to all the current residing citizens, non-citizens, and aliens in Hawaii. The interim between 6 PM - 6 AM, a curfew and blackout were enforced, by 6:30 PM