After Mary Surratt’s death sentence was decided, five members of the military commission who found her guilty created a petition requesting clemency and a lifetime sentence for Surratt instead of hanging. Then, they gave it to Secretary of War Edward Stanton, who supposedly delivered it to President Johnson to review. However, the president said he never saw the petition for leniency, and Stanton tells the commission that only the original sentences have been approved of. Part of the conspiracy lies here, for individuals believe someone, possibly Stanton, the president, Holt, or all of them, tried to suppress the conspirators’ rights by lying about what happened to the petition. Still trying to save her, Mary Surratt’s lawyers file a writ of habeas corpus to try to get her a civilian trial. The writ states that as a private citizen of the United States, Mary Surratt is entitled to a civilian trial; and the current military trial is unwarranted, making the verdict unlawful (Turner). The writ is sent to the president, who responds by suspending the right of habeas corpus for the
After Mary Surratt’s death sentence was decided, five members of the military commission who found her guilty created a petition requesting clemency and a lifetime sentence for Surratt instead of hanging. Then, they gave it to Secretary of War Edward Stanton, who supposedly delivered it to President Johnson to review. However, the president said he never saw the petition for leniency, and Stanton tells the commission that only the original sentences have been approved of. Part of the conspiracy lies here, for individuals believe someone, possibly Stanton, the president, Holt, or all of them, tried to suppress the conspirators’ rights by lying about what happened to the petition. Still trying to save her, Mary Surratt’s lawyers file a writ of habeas corpus to try to get her a civilian trial. The writ states that as a private citizen of the United States, Mary Surratt is entitled to a civilian trial; and the current military trial is unwarranted, making the verdict unlawful (Turner). The writ is sent to the president, who responds by suspending the right of habeas corpus for the