Today in Supreme Court History: August 1, 1942

8/1/1942: Military commissions conclude for eight nazi saboteurs. The Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of these trials in Ex Parte Quirin.

The Stone Court (1942)

Comments

[Supremacy Claus]

The appeal procedure of the criminal law is ridiculous. All verdicts with serious sentencing should be reviewed by expert investigators for errors in the verdict. Review of erros of law by know nothing, nitwit, arbitrary, tyrannical judges is ridiculous. It can only be understood if the aim is to provide lawyer jobs. The result is a high rate of false verdicts, a high crime rate, the streeting of dangerous, aggressive vicious criminals.

The result is a billion crimes, 2 million prosecutions. In most cases, stacking, legal costs, and bullying result in a high rate of plea deals by innocent people. The criminal law is second only to war as a lawyer profession failure, toxicity, and massive damage to our nation. Beyond direct costs are the immeasurable indirect costs. People have not calculated the effect on property values, on economic growth, on human suffering.

This toxic profession must be cancelled, then end crime. The criminals are known by their kindergarten peers, in studies in the 1960's. How do kids know what the toxic lawyer profession does not? The criminals are committing 10 crimes a day in class, hitting kids and adults, stealing, wreaking havoc, stopping the learning of others. Today, let a teacher say, stop acting like a fool, she risks her jobs and litigation. All crime is the fault of the lawyer profession.

Get rid of the lawyer profession protecting them. Then, get rid of crime.

[JoeFromtheBronx]

This was addressed recently.

The whole thing was at least something of a wartime overreach.

The saboteurs were quickly captured after one defected (with another aware and supporting him). It is unclear what the remaining six planned to do with one at least perhaps likely just to try to stay with family.

They could have been handled in the civilian courts, but the FBI was somewhat embarrassed their case largely arose from a defector (they bragged publicly about it being a great FBI coup).

Also, without actually doing any sabotage, a civilian trial might get you a few years. Not enough for these guys, especially at this stage of the war, with the public needing to be reassured.

Yes, German saboteurs, six or more (the status of two somewhat unclear given the current law) enemy aliens, did receive more due process than many would get elsewhere.

This includes Supreme Court review. If review that was rushed with the explanation coming after six of them were executed. And defense attorneys with long time military service.

[Seven was defended together with the defector represented separately. I know less about his representation, which gets less in attention in the coverage.]

A realist will say that eight attempted saboteurs would expect to be executed, and it was something that two survived the war. Still, we can aim higher. The six were executed August 8.