"In a landmark decision on April 3, 1866, the United States Supreme Court overturned the conspiracy against the national government conviction of Huntington attorney Lambadin P Milligram (1812-1899). This decision, rising out of the Civil War, set the precedent which protects civillians from being tried in military courts, even in time of war, if the civil courts are open and functional."
Ex parte Milligan, 71 U.S. 2, 125 (1866):
“This nation, as experience has proved, cannot always remain at peace, and has no right to expect that it will always have wise and humane rulers, sincerely attached to the principles of the Constitution. Wicked men, ambitious of power, with hatred of liberty and contempt of law, may fill the place once occupied by Washington and Lincoln; and if this right is conceded, and the calamities of war again befall us, the dangers to human liberty are frightful to contemplate.”
Read here:
http://supreme.justia.com/
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