Type of trial - Debate

[STS Lincolnite]

(11-03-2014 09:16 AM)Eva Elisabeth Wrote:  Thanks, Scott!
I believe I read somewhere Stanton "ordered" the delay to increase the psychological stress especially on the "surviving" ones (as an additional punishment), and I wonder if there was a legal basis for this.

Whether or not there is a legal basis, it would not surprise me that Stanton would use such a tactic.

This subject of this thread is very interesting to me and thanks Eva for posting and resurrecting it. It first appeared before I was on this forum and had not come across it in my back reading.

I once heard Judge Frank Williams (former Chief Justice of the Rhode Island Supreme Court, Lincoln Scholar and President of the Lincoln Forum) state that he had no doubt that Mary Surratt was guilty but whether or not she received due process was another question. I think that was an interesting statement that may give some insight into Frank's thoughts as to how the military trial was handled. The Lincoln Forum Symposium is coming up in a couple of weeks and I will see Frank there. If I get a chance I will try to corner him and ask him a question or two about the topic(s) in this thread or if he would recommend any articles that address the subject. If I don't get a chance to speak with him personally (it's hard to nail him down for more than a minute or two) I will shoot him an e-mail. I should also note that Judge Williams will be one of the speakers in the stellar (as always) lineup at the Surratt Conference in March.