Was this Lincoln conspirator guilty? At this museum, you decide.

[RJNorton]

(04-21-2016 09:52 AM)John Fazio Wrote:  Roger:

Thanks for the reference.

The subject of Mary's guilt or innocence is covered in detail in Chapter 5 of Decapitating the Union. A consideration of as much inculpatory and exculpatory evidence as I could find led me to the conclusion that she was guilty of complicity in the assassination, but that she should not have been executed. Had Johnson followed the 5-4 recommendation of the Commissioners to spare her, she would not have been executed. Johnson's claim that he never saw the petition for clemency submitted by Judge Advocate Joseph Holt is unconvincing.

John

John, I believe Laurie agrees with you that she should not have been executed, but I am going to quote from a previous post she made:

"...in teaching the Lincoln conspiracy to children (and many adults), I use an analogy to make the principles of "vicarious liability" and "laws of conspiracy" better to understand. First, many don't know what the word "conspiracy" even means. The minute I use the word "gang," however, they come alive. That (unfortunately) is something they can relate to in this day and age.

My analogy is the idea of a bank robbery where three members of that gang decide to rob a bank. One is the get-away driver and remains in the car while the other two enter the bank. In the course of the robbery, one of the guys shoots and kills a bank employee. Who is guilty of murder? The students are surprised to discover that, under the definition of vicarious liability, technically they all are.

I then change the scenario and have the driver outside change his mind, spot a cop on the corner, and report that a bank robbery is in progress. By the time the cop gets to the bank, however, the murder has already been committed. Will a jury find the driver guilty of murder? Probably not, because he tried to stop the bank robbers by going to an authority (one must be able to stop a conspiracy, not just drop out)."

My question would be...under the concept of vicarious liability, as Laurie explained it, why shouldn't she be executed? She had a window of opportunity to go to the authorities (as did Atzerodt) but did not do so.