Forget the hypothetical case, because those weren't the facts in
Lincoln's action. There were no enemies at the gate in May of 1861. The
Fort Sumter exchange, forced by Lincoln, had taken place on April 12th, and
Lincoln was in a panic since his tough guy strategy backfired on him and he
had forced the country into war without any serious negotiation with the
Southern states. Sure, if Martians flew down and zapped the Capital, as in
"Mars Attacks", the exigent circumstances would exist for the president and
the military to do what had to be done to repulse the space invaders. But
this has nothing to do with Lincoln's unconstitutional, illegal, and
tyrannical actions that we have discussed
"has traditionally been suspended under emergencies by
executives"
Please enlighten me, in response to your above assertion, of one
other situation since Lincoln's presidency where an American president has
taken action without the prior approval of the Congress pursuant to Article
1, Section 9, to suspend habeas corpus. It has never happened, and you
should know it.
I am afraid that your approach is regressing in the manner taught in
law school: if the law is on your side, argue the law; if the facts are on
your side, argue the facts; if neither the law or the facts are on your
side, just argue. You have neither the law (Cf Ex Parte Merryman and Ex
Parte Milligan), or the facts (Cf Article 1, Section 9 of the Constitution)
to support your position, so you are arguing hypothetical facts which didn't
exist and were no bases for Lincoln's obviously unconstitutional action.
JDS
(Oh, as stated previously during my participation, I am)
Jeffrey Duke Southmayd
Somewhat Less Than Distinguished Attorney at Law
Southmayd & Miller
1220 19th Street, N.W.
Fourth Floor
Washington, D.C. 20036
(202) 331-4100
[log in to unmask]
<A HREF="www.southmayd.net">www.southmayd.net</A> My Southmayd family genealogy site.
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