This is the story of the defense of Mary Surratt before a military tribunal. She was accused of consipiring with John Wilkes Booth to kill President Lincoln. The man assigned to her defense was a highly decorated Union officer with a promising legal career ahead of him. He defies public opinion to give her a defense in spite of all the phoney evidence used against her. She was the first woman in the history of the U.S. to be excuted. It seems like her son was involved, but maybe she didn't know what was afoot.

anyone interested in the Civil War and the aftermath of Lincoln's assasination.

the hit you over the head with preachiness of it. It would have been a lot better if the story would have told the point of view of those who were grieving for the loss of the President more.

like I was watching a propaganda movie arguing against military tribunals. They do limit the rights of suspects and about a year or so later the Supreme Cout ruled that a US Citizen be tried in regular civilian court. I think there was some sort of Guantanimo Bay thinking here about them being tried in civilian court. It was much more interesting to think about how the power of public opinion interferes with the justice system both then and now. It can happen for the good or for the bad.

was pretty good, especially Robin Wright.

I was disappointed and thought it took an interesting subject and made it boring with all the lecturing and preachiness. But sometimes that is just the way Robert Redford is, I guess.

Anyone who professes interest in the environment and then flies around in a corporate gas guzzling jet, sort of loses credibility on the home front with hooves.

In the end, you believe that Mary Surratt's son is guilty but once public opinion cooled off (he wasn't found for a while having gone to Canada) he wasn't even convicted when he was tried in civilian court.

They rushed to hang the conspirators. Lincoln died April 15, 1865 and Mrs. Surratt and the others were hung in July of that same year.

Based on my own research, I believe that she was guilty, but I do not think it was proven at trial beyond a reasonable doubt. So, I think if she was tried a while later with a jury, she wouldn't have been sentenced to death.

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Created Apr 15, 2012 at 12:19pm • Submit your own review...