Was it justifiable when Abe Lincoln suspended habeas corpus?

Answer 1

Habeas Corpus is justified when there is a state of emergency just like when President Lincoln declared it because the state was in chaos. It is valid under the constitution.

Answer 2

In retrospect it wasn't a good idea, but the civil war does qualify as a definite crisis. The courts did put things back into context by the ex parte milligan decision that ruled on military tribunals being invalid as long as civilian courts exist.

The war on terror definitely does NOT qualify as a real crisis, but Bush is well on his way to suspending habeas corpus indefinitely anyway.

Answer 3

There are specific limitations built into the constitution, in times of "rebellion or invasion the public safety may require it."

The Civil War was such a time. There was no way to safely hear such cases in federal courts, because the courts themselves were subject to armed attack on a daily basis. So, because the entire countryside was literally a war zone, it was not feasible to transport prisoners to courts, because there was no likelihood that prisoners could reach the courts, or that the courts themselves would survive the proceedings.

Those justifications do not hold true today.

Answer 4

Nothing Lincoln did was legal or justifyable.

Answer 5

yep