1865 · Baltimore
by Johnson, Reverdy
Baltimore: Printed by John Murphy & Co., 1865. Original printed front wrapper [some blank margin and spine chipping; small rubberstamp above the wrapper title]. 31, [1 blank] pp. Disbound and lacking the rear wrapper. Good+.
During his career as a distinguished constitutional lawyer Johnson, a Union Democrat during the late War, was a strict constructionist, arguing that the powers of the National Government were carefully bounded by constitutional constraints.
Here he argues that only civil courts, providing all the constitutional safeguards such as trial by jury, had jurisdiction to try Mrs. Surratt. The powers of the Executive branch of Government, he reminds the Commission, are "only such as the Constitution confers." No such power grants military commissions the authority to try civilians in peacetime. "A tribunal like this has no jurisdiction over other than military offences."
Attorney General Speed disagreed with Johnson, and the Commission sustained its own jurisdiction. But Johnson surely offered the better argument. In 1866 the U.S. Supreme Court decided Ex Parte Milligan, holding that military commissions had no jurisdiction to try civilians except when civil courts were unavailable.
FIRST EDITION. Monaghan 577. Sabin 36261. Not in Harv. Law Cat, Marke, McDade. (Inventory #: 39886)
During his career as a distinguished constitutional lawyer Johnson, a Union Democrat during the late War, was a strict constructionist, arguing that the powers of the National Government were carefully bounded by constitutional constraints.
Here he argues that only civil courts, providing all the constitutional safeguards such as trial by jury, had jurisdiction to try Mrs. Surratt. The powers of the Executive branch of Government, he reminds the Commission, are "only such as the Constitution confers." No such power grants military commissions the authority to try civilians in peacetime. "A tribunal like this has no jurisdiction over other than military offences."
Attorney General Speed disagreed with Johnson, and the Commission sustained its own jurisdiction. But Johnson surely offered the better argument. In 1866 the U.S. Supreme Court decided Ex Parte Milligan, holding that military commissions had no jurisdiction to try civilians except when civil courts were unavailable.
FIRST EDITION. Monaghan 577. Sabin 36261. Not in Harv. Law Cat, Marke, McDade. (Inventory #: 39886)