Ah, so you're for punishing Vallandigham in May 1863 for crimes he might commit in the future? What might you be guilty of in the future? Pay up now for that speeding ticket you will get in 2014. Ack! What might I be guilty of in the future?
If you will remember, I stated the following qualification in Post 193 (my bold below):
Did Vallandigham levy war against the United States? No, at least not at this time.
So anyone can reasonably argue that miscarriages of justice are always possible in our legal system, ...
Amen. Vallandigham was tried unconstitutionally by a military court in a state not in insurrection where the civil court system was functioning. Lincoln was guilty of that crime. As Governor Morton pointed out to Lincoln at the time, the trial was against the Habeas Corpus Act of 1863.
The record shows the court believed Vallandigham did express sympathy for the enemy and he was, per General Order #38, exiled for it.
Remember, this was a military court set up under the auspices of General Burnside who issued General Orders No. 38. Can you imagine one of the staff on the military court saying, "No, General, you're wrong." And the general responding with, "Off to the guard house with you, Major."
rusty: "Ah, so you're for punishing Vallandigham in May 1863 for crimes he might commit in the future? "
Ah, so you're for punishing Lincoln because of a Supreme Court decision delivered after Lincoln was dead, but you think Vallandigham's behavior after the summer of 1863 was irrelevant to his actions a few months earlier?
I'm only saying the court decided Vallandigham had violated a lawful order (#38), and his punishment was eventually changed, as specified in that order, to exile in the Confederacy.
Of course, Vallandigham was a highly visible political figure, equivalent in his day to, oh, say, a Senator John Kerry in ours.
The difference, if I dare say so, is that people in those days had less difficulty seeing the difference between friends and enemies.