What would President Lincoln have done?

[David Lockmiller]

Hint #2:

Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court John Marshall wrote the opinion of the Supreme Court in Marbury v. Madison, 5 U.S. 137, 162-163 (1803):

In the 3d vol. of his Commentaries, p. 23, Blackstone states “it is a general and indisputable rule, that where there is a legal right, there is also a legal remedy by suit or action at law, whenever that right is invaded."

The very essence of civil liberty certainly consists in the right of every individual to claim the protection of the laws, whenever he receives an injury. One of the first duties of government is to afford that protection.

The government of the United States has been emphatically termed a government of laws, and not of men. It will certainly cease to deserve this high appellation, if the laws furnish no remedy for the violation of a vested legal right.