Executive Order 8536 Constitutional Neutral (+0.02)

Executive Order 8536—Establishing San Clemente Island Naval Defensive Sea Area

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Friday, September 6, 1940

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1 min read (236 words)

Plain-English Translation & Framers' Constitutional Analysis

Early Statesman synthesis distilling legal jargon into practical meaning, statutory anchors, and structural constitutional impacts.

This executive order, signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on 1940-09-06, establishes federal administrative policy concerning "Establishing San Clemente Island Naval Defensive Sea Area." It is a direct, concise executive instruction delivering focused administrative or military commands to department leadership.

Constitutional Assessment: Scrutinized through Article II, Section 2, this action exercises the President's constitutional role as Commander in Chief. Early Framers recognized broad executive discretion in commanding military forces during conflict, provided it remains bounded by congressional declarations and respects civilian domestic courts.

Key Directives & Operative Actions

▪ As thus amended said Executive order reads as follows: "By virtue of and pursuant to the authority vested in me by the provisions of section 44 of the Criminal Code, as amended (U.S.C., title 18, sec.

▪ 96), the area of water surrounding San Clemente Island, California, extending from low-water mark out for a distance of one nautical mile beyond low-water mark, is hereby established as a defensive sea area for purposes of national defense, subject to the uses reserved for the Department of Commerce in Executive Order No.

▪ Said defensive sea area shall be known as San Clemente Island Naval Defensive Sea Area.

▪ "At no time shall vessels or other craft be navigated within the defensive sea area above defined except such as are authorized by the Secretary of the Navy.

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Armed Forces & Military Establishments 🏛️ Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants

Total Words

236

1,413 characters

Estimated Read Time

1 min

@ 200 words / min

Flesch-Kincaid

13.8

Post-Grad reading level

Constitutional Polarity

+0.02

Framers' Alignment index

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Scholarly & Legal Citations

Exec. Order No. 8536, Franklin D. Roosevelt (Sep 6, 1940). Available at https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-8536-establishing-san-clemente-island-naval-defensive-sea-area.

Official Document Text

Source: The American Presidency Project (UCSB Archive)

Original Source →

CALIFORNIA Executive Order No. 7747, dated November 20, 1937, establishing a defensive sea area off the coast of San Clemente Island, California, is hereby amended by substituting the words "one nautical mile" for the words "three hundred yards" as they appear in the first paragraph thereof, and by adding at the end of said first paragraph the following words: "Said defensive sea area shall be known as San Clemente Island Naval Defensive Sea Area". As thus amended said Executive order reads as follows: "By virtue of and pursuant to the authority vested in me by the provisions of section 44 of the Criminal Code, as amended (U.S.C., title 18, sec. 96), the area of water surrounding San Clemente Island, California, extending from low-water mark out for a distance of one nautical mile beyond low-water mark, is hereby established as a defensive sea area for purposes of national defense, subject to the uses reserved for the Department of Commerce in Executive Order No. 6897, dated November 7, 1934. Said defensive sea area shall be known as San Clemente Island Naval Defensive Sea Area. "At no time shall vessels or other craft be navigated within the defensive sea area above defined except such as are authorized by the Secretary of the Navy. "Any person violating the provisions of this order shall be subject to the penalties provided by law." FRANKLIN D ROOSEVELT The White House, September 6, 1940.