Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, LLP - 425 Lexington Avenue,  New York, NY 10017

November 19, 2015 at 5:30 p.m.

1.5 credits

THE MILITARY TRIAL OF THE LINCOLN CONSPIRATORS: WAS JUSTICE SERVED?

In 1865, eight defendants were tried before a Military Commission for conspiring to assassinate President Abraham Lincoln and other high government officials.  The Historical Trial Team will present a reenactment of this trial.  We will focus primarily on the evidence concerning two defendants whose guilt or innocence is still being argued today - Mary Surratt, who owned the boarding house at which the conspiracy was plotted, and Dr. Samuel Mudd, who set John Wilkes Booth's broken leg after the assassination.

This program is timely both because 2015 marks the 150th anniversary of the end of the Civil War, and because disputes concerning the limits of military jurisdiction are still being litigated in the Guantanamo cases.  A panel discussion following the trial reenactment will discuss whether the Lincoln conspirators were properly tried before a military rather than a civilian court in 1865, and the implications of their case for today.

Program Materials:

Case Citations