Food for Thought

[mike86002000]

Mr. Binzel wrote:
"the underlying premise and assumption of the above statement is that the Lincoln assassination conspirators were mere citizens and that the facts of Ex parte Milligan and Ex parte Mudd are on point. They are not."
I doubt he meant to say Ex Parte Mudd is not on point. Isn't that the "19th century legal proceeding that has never been overturned", to which he refers? It is, of course, Boynton's decision to deny the writ of habeas corpus to the surviving conspirators, in which he argues that Ex Parte Milligan is not "on point" in the case. His "reasoning" was that the Lincoln assassination was a military crime, and so should be tried by a military court. He seems not to have realized the military nature of the crimes Milligan was alleged to have committed.

From Wikipedia:
The military commission for the trial of Milligan, Horsey, Bowles, and Humphreys convened at Indianapolis on October 21, 1864. The commission considered five charges against the men: conspiracy against the U.S. government, offering aid and comfort to the Confederates, inciting insurrections, "disloyal practices," and "violation of the laws of war." The defendants were alleged to have established a secret organization that planned to liberate Confederate soldiers from Union prisoner-of-war camps in Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio, and then seize an arsenal, provide the freed prisoners with arms, raise an armed force to incite a general insurrection, and join with the Confederates to invade Indiana, Illinois, and Kentucky and make war on the government of the United States.
Indiana had been invaded by Confederate General Morgan. It had been a war zone.

By Boynton's own "reasoning", Ex Parte Milligan would not be on point in Milligan's case either! That seems to have escaped Boynton. I'm amused to point it out. I don't think it's reasonable to argue that the conspirators were any less civilians & citizens than Milligan, either. Certainly, Dr. Mudd, Mrs, Surratt, Herold, Atzerodt, and Spangler were never in anyone's army. (Some say Davey's mom did send him to military school. If so, his name has been removed from their records.)
The reason Boynton's decision on Ex Parte Mudd wasn't over turned was that the appeal to the supreme court was rendered moot by the pardoning of all the surviving conspirators. I do wonder if that is why they were pardoned. I don't know.
Mike