Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln. Volume 8 [ Sept. 12, 1864-Apr. 14, 1865, undated, appendices].

About this Item

Title: Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln. Volume 8 [ Sept. 12, 1864-Apr. 14, 1865, undated, appendices].
Author: Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865.
Publication: New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press; 1953.
Rights/Permissions: The University of Michigan Library provides access to these materials for educational and research purposes, with permission from their copyright holder. If you decide to use any of these materials, you are responsible for making your own legal assessment and securing any necessary permission.
Cite this Item: "Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln. Volume 8 [ Sept. 12, 1864-Apr. 14, 1865, undated, appendices]." In the digital collection Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln. https://name.umdl.umich.edu/lincoln8. University of Michigan Library Digital Collections. Accessed April 28, 2024.

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To James Speed1Jump to section

Executive Mansion, Washington,
Hon. Attorney General Dec. 29, 1864.

Please give me your opinion in writing whether the Secretary of the Navy, or any of his subordinates, is bound in law, on application of individuals, to furnish exemplified copies of records, or parts of records, of Naval Courts-Martial, on file in the Navy Department.

Also, whether the Secretary of the Navy, or any of his subordinates is bound in law to answer to a Commission of a State court, directing the taking of his or their testimony, as to the contents of records of Naval Courts-Martial on file in the Navy Department.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN

Annotation

[1] ALS copy (ADfS?), DLC-RTL; LS, DNA RG 60, Papers of Attorney General, 1864, Box 117. Attorney General Speed replied in a twelve-page opinion on January 3, 1865. His conclusions were: `` . . . the written record of the proceedings before a naval Court martial becomes, when the proceedings are consummated by the action of the proper revisory authority, the record of an adjudicated case tried and determined by a legally constituted court of justice; and . . . any limitation to an exemplified copy of such a record on file in the

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Navy Department, when properly applied for by an individual, would be contrary to law. . . .

``With respect to the second point submitted to me, I am of opinion, that the Secretary of the Navy, and any of his subordinates, having knowledge of the contents of records of naval courts martial on file . . . after the proceedings have been consummated . . . are bound in law to answer to a commission of a State Court directing the taking of his and their testimony as to the contents of such records. . . .'' (DLC-RTL).