Reply #54: "I don't see anything in there that says that"

[Mairead]

In where? 'Martial law' means rule by the military rather than civil authorities; it's what we're seeing in Iraq today, and at Guantanmo prison. There is no provision in the Constitution for martial law, though there is a mention of suspending habeas corpus ('show the body', i.e., show cause).

The USAPATRIOT Act imposes a species of permanent martial law --the Guantanamo prison exists only because habeas corpus has been suspended for certain classes of people, but any of us could find ourselves declared by fiat to be a member of one of those classes and we'd have no recourse.

So on some level you're right--the imposition of martial law need not result in the obvious suspension of the Constitution, but when they can choose when and whether to honor its guarantees, it's been in fact suspended.