The last time the Writ of Habeas Corpus was suspended in the U.S.:

[Jacobin]

Margaret A. Blanchard, in her article "Free Expression and Wartime: Lessons from the Past, Hopes for the Future", locates the Merryman arrest within President Lincolns controversial suspending of the writ of habeas corpus, the constitutional province that protects American citizens from groundless arrest.

"....As a wartime president, Lincoln immediately appreciated the importance of having a united country behind him. The difficulty was that residents of the North were significantly divided not only over how the war should be pursued but over whether it was necessary at all. Many so called Peace Democrats, individuals who desired an immediate end to the conflict, lived in the North. In addition, Northern States had strong pockets of Southern sympathizers who, if they couldnt stop the war, tried to aid the Confederate cause.....To maintain Union dominance, Lincoln sought to suppress disloyal sentiment by suspending the writ habeas corpus....Lincoln's action meant that individuals could be arrested and held without formal charges being lodged against them.....troublesome individuals were arrested for the revolutionary ideas that they were advocating-meaning separation from the Union and adherence to the Confederacy....

...The leading opponent of the president's action was the Chief Justice of the United States, Roger B. Taney, sitting as circuit judge for Maryland. Taney had been called upon to rule in the case of John Merryman, a strong advocate of the Southern cause, who had not only spoken out for the confederacy but also had raised the a company of soldiers to serve in its army and was connected with the burning of bridges in Maryland to keep Union soldiers from using them. Merryman's lawyers lawyers sought to have him released on the grounds that he was being illegally held without formal presentation of charges."

Results of incident

"....Taney ordered Merryman released and denounced the president for undercutting a basic right of the American people. By suspending habeas corpus, the president could arrest and hold anyone indefinitely without trial- an action that Taney thought subverted the constitutional process. Lincoln ignored the 85- year old jurist's order. The case never reached the supreme Court; Merryman was eventually released and never heard from again..."

Source: Margaret A. Blanchard, "Free Expression and Wartime: Lessons from the Past, Hopes for the Future", Journalism Quarterly, Vol. 69, No. 1 (Spring 1992), Pg. 5-17

http://www.cd.sc.ehu.es/FileRoom/documents/Cases/187lincoln.html



No mention of torture, though.

[Virginia Dare]

1. I probably would have been against it then too...n/t

[Jacobin]

2. Never justified,

I'm with you.

I was googling the history of the writ and realized this was done in the Civil War.

I hestitated to bring it up because it could make some RW talking points, but somehow comparing what we are going through now, to the Civil War is so much of a stretch, that it is absurd.

The point is, by the time that the courts can address the problems, the damage has already been done and its too late.

[mmonk]

13. He was dealing with a multi-state rebellion

and its aftermath. It doesn't justify it but puts that situation in context with today where there isn't a rebellion.

[shadowknows69]

16. The decade is young yet

n/t

[Jacobin]

18. means.....ends......

I disagree, but you are right that the circumstances were dire.

[Hubert Flottz]

3. A different story...

Lincoln's Suspension of the Writ of Habeas Corpus

Relating to the Events in Missouri

Maj. Gen. H. W. HALLECK,
Commanding in the Department of Missouri:

GENERAL: AS an insurrection exists in the United States and is in arms in the State of Missouri, you are hereby authorized and empowered to suspend the writ of habeas corpus within the limits of the military division under your command, and to exercise martial law as you find it necessary, in your discretion, to secure the public safety and the authority of the United States.
In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed, at Washington, this second day of December, A.D. 1861.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

By the President:

WILLIAM H. SEWARD,
Secretary of State....MORE

http://www.civilwarhome.com/Writ.htm

[Jacobin]

5. He suspended it nationwide. Here's the proclamation:

Abraham Lincoln
September 24, 1862


Proclamation Suspending the Writ of Habeas Corpus

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA:

A PROCLAMATION

Whereas, it has become necessary to call into service not only volunteers but also portions of the militia of the States by draft in order to suppress the insurrection existing in the United States, and disloyal persons are not adequately restrained by the ordinary processes of law from hindering this measure and from giving aid and comfort in various ways to the insurrection;

Now, therefore, be it ordered, first, that during the existing insurrection and as a necessary measure for suppressing the same, all Rebels and Insurgents, their aiders and abettors within the United States, and all persons discouraging volunteer enlistments, resisting militia drafts, or guilty of any disloyal practice, affording aid and comfort to Rebels against the authority of United States, shall be subject to martial law and liable to trial and punishment by Courts Martial or Military Commission:

Second. That the Writ of Habeas Corpus is suspended in respect to all persons arrested, or who are now, or hereafter during the rebellion shall be, imprisoned in any fort, camp, arsenal, military prison, or other place of confinement by any military authority of by the sentence of any Court Martial or Military Commission.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.

Done at the City of Washington this twenty fourth day of September, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, and of the Independence of the United States the 87th.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN

By the President:

WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State.

[Hubert Flottz]

6. BUT...

The country was REALLY being invaded during the Civil War and there were REBELS. Not like today

[Jacobin]

8. I realize that

The point I was trying to make is that the remedy of going to court to try to have the suspension of the writ unconstitutional takes so long that the remedy is meaningless.

I also don't believe that it was proper to suspend the writ.

[Hubert Flottz]

15. The things that happened in Missouri during the Civil War...

kind of remind me of Iraq.

[Jacobin]

17. T'wasn't just Missouri

There were draft riots in New York where hundreds were killed. It was a very unpopular war.

[Hubert Flottz]

20. It was a far worse time for America then.

America is in Full Barney Fife Mode now! The rustlers are stampeding the sheep right on over the cliff now! Maybe America deserves all this, because the people have grown so stupid. Clearly our government is beyond saving us, or protecting us, from the wolves at our heels now. The wolves from within!

[americanstranger]

11. Bush is going him one better -

he's suspending it world-wide.

God, I fucking hate fascists.

- as

[madrchsod]

4. weeding out the terrorist`s

is so much easier now so be ready for the knock on the door. i remember my fbi visit during the 60`s ,thank god the chief of police vouched for me....

[kestrel91316]

7. Bush HAS compared himself to Lincoln, hasn't he, IIRC??

[Jacobin]

9. I can see where he is desperately trying to make that connection

While I think suspension of the writ was wrong then, even under dire circumstances, it is ghastly now, under circumstances which are clearly not dire.

[Scoot420fla]

10. Ex Parte Milligan

The supreme court eventually went on to Ex Parte Milligan where they said something to the effect that there is no circumstance in which the writ of habeus corpus shall be suspended.

http://usinfo.state.gov/usa/infousa/facts/democrac/26.htm

[Jacobin]

19. And now, congress is authorizing it

and the number of years it will take for the SCOTUS to look at it will make the relief moot

[leftofthedial]

12. it was a horrible, un-American idea then

and it is now.

IMHO, Lincoln ranks third, behind raygun and Teddy Roosevelt as our most overrated president.

[buddhamama]

14. i've mentioned this every time i've spoken w/ a Senator's office