General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: I'm astonished so many DUers are cool with ending Habeas Corpus [View all]soryang
(3,304 posts)Ex Parte Milligan, one of the greatest legal decisions of the Supreme Court put the issue of martial law for US civilians to rest for all time. The entire common law tradition and the constitutional requirement for superiority of civilian jurisdiction over the the military is laid out in historical detail.
Then a panicky WWII era Supreme Court, simply discarded Milligan without explanation in In ex parte Quirin. This is the case that forms the basis for John Yoo's theory the President can do whatever he wants during wartime to anyone. This is the same thinking that brought about the Japanese American internment during WWII. The thesis behind the DAA is that the US is a battlefield. This is patent nonsense.
Here is my other (longer post) concerning John Yoo, the DAA, martial law and Ex parte Milligan.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=30433