| DICTATORSHIP IN AMERICA |
Constitutional Rights Foundation America Responds to Terrorism Lincoln and the "Writ of Liberty" It is 2:30 a.m., and everyone in the darkened house is asleep. Suddenly, there are loud voices outside the house and a heavy banging at the door. A man opens an upstairs window and looks down on the scene unfolding in his front yard. Unbelieving, he sees soldiers carrying rifles with fixed bayonets surrounding his house and an army officer at his door, shouting that he is under arrest. The shocked citizen refuses to admit the soldiers into his home. The officer orders his men to break down the door. After forcing their way into the house, the soldiers rush upstairs and break apart two bedroom doors before finding the man they have come to arrest. The arrested man is secretly taken aboard a special train and transported to another city where he is locked up in a military barracks. The prisoner never sees a judge and is not even formally charged with a crime. Instead, within 24 hours after his arrest, he is brought before eight army officers who put him on trial for making disloyal speeches against the government. This incident sounds like it might have happened in Nazi Germany But it occurred in the United States and involved a former Ohio congressman named Clement L. Vallandigham. Even more surprising, the army men who arrested Vallandigham and put him on trial were given the authority to do so by one of Americas greatest presidents: Abraham Lincoln. Arrests like Vallandigham's are not supposed to happen in the United States. Judges guard against illegal arrests and imprisonments much like they protect citizens from arbitrary government searches. Before the police may search a persons house, they must show a judge that they have "probable cause" for a search warrant. Similarly, after an arrest, law-enforcement authorities must convince a judge that they have "probable cause" for holding a person. If the government cannot do this, the judge will order the person released. The authority of judges to free prisoners held without legal reason is based on a right that existed in America long before either the Constitution or the Bill of Rights were written. This is the right of habeas corpus. This Latin phrase literally means "produce the body." It is an ancient English legal concept that empowers judges to order imprisoned persons to be brought into court to determine if they are being legally held. A judges order to do this is called a writ of habeas corpus, also known as the "writ of liberty." The Writ of Liberty--Suspended The actual right of habeas corpus is not stated anywhere in the Constitution or the Bill of Rights. The authors of these documents apparently believed that habeas corpus was such a fundamental liberty that it needed no further guarantee in writing. The only mention of the writ of habeas corpus in the Constitution relates to when it can be taken away from judges. In a section limiting the powers of Congress (Art. I, Sec. 9), the Constitution states: "The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in causes of rebellion or invasion of the public safety may require it." This suspension clause was never activated through the terms of the first 15 presidents. Then during the Civil War, President Lincoln suspended the writ of habeas corpus without consulting Congress. In doing so, Lincoln enabled the military to arrest and imprison thousands of civilians, including Clement L. Vallandigham. Lincolns first order suspending the writ of liberty applied only to Maryland, a border state sympathetic to the South that virtually surrounded Washington, D.C. Shortly after, Lincoln issued this suspension order, Union troops arrested a Maryland man for helping to organize a pro-Confederate militia. Following his arrest, he was imprisoned at Fort McHenry. Trying to gain his freedom, the prisoner appealed to a federal court in Baltimore for a writ of habeas corpus. But when a federal judge issued the writ, the military officers at Fort McHenry refused to obey it. They said Lincolns suspension order made the writ worthless. On September 24, 1862, Lincoln issued a proclamation unprecedented in American history. He suspended the writ of liberty everywhere in the United States. The suspension applied to Confederate spies or to those who aided the rebel cause, interfered with military enlistments, resisted the draft, or were "guilty of any disloyal practice." This last offense allowed the military to arrest newspaper editors and speakers critical of the Union war effort. Lincoln further ordered that persons arrested under his proclamation were subject to martial law, which meant they would be tried and punished by military courts Lincoln Did as Lincoln pleased. How did he get by with it? I believe it was because the Radical Republicans who were in controll in Washington were pleased with most of what Lincoln was doing, they simply put up with the things that they were not pleased with. All members of Congress, and all of the American Citizens that were educated enough to know their rights, much less the Constitution, and Bill of rights, knew that Lincoln was out of controll. He didnt ask Congress, nor did he listen to anything they said. He did what he wanted to do period. Why was he so upset about these few states withdrawing from the Union? For the same reason the lands were being taken away from the Indians. The same reason we took the whole western seaboard from the Mexicans. Starting with Texas and going all the way through California. Realestate. The bigger a country is, the more powerfull it is. The Federal Goverment had power, and power wants more power. Never mind about people, people will multiply. There will always be people. Its power they wanted, and land mass, useable teritory, ment more power. Lincoln didn't want to give up any power. He kept saying "Save the Union," as if he was in danger of loosing it all. The south only wanted their part. They never had any thoughts of taking over the U.S.goverment. Although Lincoln would like people to think that they did. The dirty crooks in washington, those present in 1861, and many of those that came before, had worked hard to take the power away from the people, and they were damned if they were going to give any of it back. Befor the shooting actually started Lincoln, along with the rest of the country thought that the fighting would be half hearted, and only last a few days. The soldiers wanted to hurry and get something going so that they could get into the fracuss. They called it seeing the Elephant. But after the battle of First Manassas, this dream was gone. The Battle occured real close to Washing DC. A lot of the Gentry, gathered on the hill to watch, and listen to the battle , and picnic. The Rebels who were less in number, and under equiped, thrashed the Yanks really good, chased them back through the gathering of Gentry, upseting their picnics, and carrages in some instances, back through wasington they ran even though the Rebs no longer chased. The Commanders tried to stop them and regroup in Washington, but couldnt get some of them stopped. They no longer thought that it was going to be easy. Lincoln could still have reconsidered. He was president Of The United States, it was his place to reconsider. It was now very plain that the South really wanted free. And that they were prepaired to die for that freedom. Their forfathers had fought England for that freedom, they had enjoyed it for a while, now that were determined to get it back. If Lincoln had been the "Great Emansipator " he was later claimed to be, he would have prevented this war. But he was not. He was a Dictator. I dont understand why they didnt arrest him. or kill him , in the early days of his presidency. Nobody has hurt America as much as Lincoln. We have had some presidents that were war munglers. Created Wars to please their backers. Wars move great sums of money into pockets of manufactors of war supplies. These people want war. They will do almost anything to get war. When they get war, they will say anything to keep it going. The Vietnam War would still be going on if the people had not objected so strongly. We now have another war in Iraq, it is now 2007 and take my word, this war has only just began. That is unless the people object very strongly. We also have another Radical Republican who dictates from his bully pulpit. The people has just filled both houses with so called Democrats trying to get some opposition to this Republican, but it dont look like they are democratic enough to want to oppose him. The same money bought them all I suppose. One man like Murtha speaks the truth, and the rest try to make a fool out of him. I am an old man, what can I do but look on? Robert E Lee owned a great mansion at Arlington Virginia. The property where the Cemetery now occupies. Roberts wife inherited it. It had belonged to George Washington. Roberts wifewas a grandaughter to George Washingtons wife. Lincoln managed to steel it from Robert during the war. Lincolns White House leaved a tax on the Southerners property, knowing that most of them could not pay. This was steeling, pure and simple.. Robert and his wife knew that if they went to Washington to pay the Tax They would be arested. They sent a servant with the money. The crooks in washington would not accept the payment by the servant, saying that the land owner's themselves must pay in person. Robert Lee was very despondent as to the condition that the property was now in, and knew that he would never be happy there again, anyhow he had very little choice about the matter. Lincolns goverment took title to the property. They had used it to house yankee soldiers, to house prisoners, and and other things. It was pretty much ruined. However later, after both Robert, and his wife had died, their son Custus Lee sued for the return of that property. The court found that it had been taken ileagly and returned to the Lee Family. Custus saw what condition it was in, and that much of it was now a cemetery, he donated it back to the Goverment. The lesson this story relays is that much of what Lincoln did was dirty and ileagle. If I had been Custus I would have asked them to please move their cemetery, or have it plowed under. |
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