Research Catalog

Title

Nazi saboteurs on trial : a military tribunal and American law / Louis Fisher.

Author

Fisher, Louis

Publication

Lawrence : University Press of Kansas, c2003.

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Holdings

Details

Description

xi, 193 p. : ports.; 23 cm.

Summary

"Although huge in scope and impact, the 9/11 attacks were not the first threat by foreign terrorists on American soil. During World War II, eight Germans landed on our shores in 1942 bent on sabotage. Caught before they could carry out their missions, under FDR's presidential proclamation they were hauled before a secret military tribunal and found guilty. Meeting in an emergency session, the Supreme Court upheld the tribunal's authority. Justice was swift: six of the men were put to death - a sentence much more harsh than would have been allowed in a civil trial." "Louis Fisher chronicles the capture, trial, and punishment of the Nazi saboteurs in order to examine the extent to which procedural rights are suspended in time of war. One of America's leading constitutional scholars, Fisher analyzes the political, legal, and administrative context of the Supreme Court decision Ex parte Quirin (1942). He reconstructs a rush to judgment that has striking relevance to current events by considering the reach of the law in trials conducted against wartime enemies."--Jacket.

Subject

• Trials (Sabotage) > Washington (D.C.)
• Nazi Saboteurs Trial, Washington, D.C., 1942

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references (p. [181]-185) and indexes.

Processing Action (note)

• committed to retain

Contents

School for saboteurs. "Operation Pastorius" -- The eight finalists -- Instruction and training -- To Paris and Lorient -- Misadventures in America. Surprise at Amagansett -- Look what we found -- Dasch turns to the FBI -- Kerling's group lands at Ponte Vedra -- A quick round-up -- The military tribunal at work. The Milligan hurdle -- Interdepartmental conflicts -- Roosevelt's proclamation -- Issues with the media -- Setting some ground rules -- Articles of war/law of war -- Interlude in civil court -- Windup of the trial -- Sentencing and execution -- The fate of confederates -- The Supreme Court steps in. Briefing the case -- Nine hours of oral argument -- The per curiam -- Stone's draft -- Keeping a united front -- F.F.'s soliloquy -- The October 29 decision -- Rethinking tribunals. Evaluations of Quirin -- Saboteur effort II, 1944-1945 -- World War II trials -- A revival of Milligan? -- Bush's military order in 2001.

ISBN

0700612386 (cloth : alk. paper)

LCCN

^^2002152204

OCLC

• 50982296
• SCSB-10453611

Owning Institutions

Harvard Library