Lincoln's Unconstitutional Actions
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01-04-2018, 06:11 PM
Post: #11
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RE: Lincoln's Unconstitutional Actions
(01-04-2018 03:57 PM)Angela Wrote:(01-04-2018 03:12 PM)L Verge Wrote: Angela - I have often used your argument with upper grade students at our museum, pointing out that things change in times of crisis. In the Mary Surratt movie, The Conspirator, I believe that it is Mary's respected lawyer who quoted the following: "In times of war, the law falls silent." This is derived from a Latin phrase, Inter arma enim silent lēgēs meaning "for among [times of] arms, the laws fall mute." It is credited to Cicero. Angela - As a native Marylander, I instinctively cited the Merryman case because it was a Maryland case and because it originated in April of 1861, shortly after the Baltimore Riots as Union troops were transported through that city. It is also usually overshadowed by the better known ex parte Milligan. I hope I'm remembering the history correctly here, but John Merryman was a Marylander who participated in blowing up several rail bridges in his state when Lincoln refused the state's request to avoid bloodshed by not bringing Federal forces through Maryland en route to fortifying D.C. Lincoln answered by authorizing the military to suspend the writ of habeas corpus in cases like Merryman's - especially since he was being charged with treason. The state officials appealed to Chief Justice Taney because, even though he was a justice of the Supreme Court, in those days, justices also served as circuit court judges. Note that the Merryman case was ruled a district court case. His case would set the tone for further cases involving the suspension of the writ -- and in Maryland, I can tell you that there were a large number of "political prisoners" who were being held for actions a lot less severe than blowing up bridges. And, they were ultimately released. Taking this to a somewhat final conclusion was the 1866 decision on Milligan, which was chiefly about the use of military courts on civilian prisoners. This led to my comment about being contacted in 2001 by the U.S. Department of Justice because they were working on justifications for the treatment of terrorists following the attack on NY and D.C. Everything old is new again. That's a line from some musical, but I can't remember which one. Those of you with a bend towards legal matters, please correct any errors I made in the above explanation to Angela. The law frankly scares me to death, so I can't blithely declare that I have crossed my t's and dotted my i's. |
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