The Flimsy Case Against Mary Surratt

[mike86002000]

(01-19-2019 01:12 PM)L Verge Wrote:  

(01-19-2019 10:46 AM)mike86002000 Wrote:  "AussieMick" wrote:

The 20th-century case that I was referring to was the trial of the six German saboteurs during WWII. I believe that two of them claimed to be American citizens. They were all tried by military court, and I believe that four were hanged. There was also a case that someone brought to my attention years ago, but all I can remember is that the case had a Japanese or Korean name.

Mick,
You are probably thinking of "Korematsu". Wikipedia has an article about his case @: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korematsu_...ted_States . "The decision has been described as an odious and discredited artifact of popular bigotry, and as a stain on American jurisprudence."
Mike
[/quote]

Mike - I am the one who posted about that, and thank you for identifying the case as being about Japanese-American internments because of perceived threats to national security.

To me, it is interesting to note that many of the "decisions" about this have been made within the past two decades. In fact, the citation for your quote about odious, etc. is actually an article from the Huffington Post in November of 2016, written by a Bruce Fein. It seems that the 9/11 terrorists and the Muslim issue are bringing back old memories?

To me, the point at any time in history is the safety and security of the American public -- desperate times require desperate measures.
[/quote]
Lest anyone think the low opinion of the Korematsu case is merely mine and Mr. Fein's, I should clarify: The first part of my quote, that characterizes the case as "an odious and discredited artifact of popular bigotry", is attributed to Mr. Fein. The second part that characterizes it as "a stain on American jurisprudence", is attributed to Carl Takei. The article also quotes numerous other critics with equally scathing comments. (There's a charming photo of Fred Korematsu, too!)
My favorite version of a quote attributed to Benjamin Franklin is:
"Those who would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both."
Mike