Greensborough (NC) Patriot
January 15,
1863
Page 2
From the Raleigh Standard
The Writ of Habeas Corpus Resisted
We
publish below the Card of Mr. Badham, of this City,
detailing the circumstances attending the resistance to the haheas corpus in the case of Mr. Loftin. Comment is not necessary in so plain a
matter. That great writ is secured by
the Constitution and the laws of this State to every person who is arrested and
held in prison. Its object is to give a hearing to the suspected party, in
order that if good cause exists for his imprisonment, the imprisonment shall
continue until a trial can be had; and if no good cause exists, he shall be set
at liberty. This was all Mr. Loftin asked, but this was denied him. We are neither his champion nor apologist,
for we know nothing of the facts in his case, ---we are simply contending for a
great principle as old as civil liberty itself.
If Mr. Loftin has committed treason, or
adhered to our enemies, we trust he will be punished; but if he be innocent of
this great crime, or of any crime, he is entitled to his liberty. He has demanded an investigation of his case,
which has been denied him. Meanwhile he
languishes in the Bastile at Salisbury under the iron hand of military
power, with many others, who have asked in vain that their cases may be
investigated. The Judge who issued the
writ in his case has backed, and the
judicial ermine has been lowered and dragged in the dust at the feet of a
subordinate military officer:--
MR.
HOLDEN:--In a late number of the law Standard, you stated that I had sued out a
writ of habeas corpus in behalf of W.
C. Loftin, a prisoner confined in the Confederate
prison at Salisbury. In the State
Journal of the 3rd inst., in the leading editorial, the following
statement is made:
“We saw in the
leading Conservative organ of the State a day or two since, that a lawyer of
this City had sued out a writ of habeas
corpus before a Judge of this City, in behalf of a prisoner confined at Salisbury. We presume the
same remedy is open to all others. Why
do they not avail themselves of the remedy?
The great writ is intended as the bulwark of the citizen against
arbitrary power.”
I have no
comments to make on the above, or the editorial in which it occurs; and in
calling attention to it, my object solely is to place you in possession of the
facts connected with this particular case.
On the morning the writ was issued you had the kindness to telegraph the
Editor of the Salisbury Watchman, requesting him to inform Loftin
that a writ had been sued out, and that I would be in Salisbury the next morning to present it to
the Commandant of that military post.
Your friend, the Editor of the Watchman, not being in his office at the
reception of the telegram, his Assistant, Mr. James, immediately sought an
interview with Capt. McCoy, the Commandant.
Not finding the Captain in his office, Mr. James procured a conveyance,
and although the day, (Tuesday last was an inclement one) went out to the Confederate
prison, where he found the Commandant, who refused to allow him either to see
the prisoner, Loftin, or communicate to him the
substance of the dispatch. On Tuesday
morning (as telegraphed would be done,) I presented the writ of habeas corpus to Capt. Henry McCoy. He refused to obey the writ, and responded in
writing that the writ of habeas corpus was
suspended at Salisbury
by the Confederate government. I
requested the privilege to see the prisoner.
This was denied me, the Captain informing me that grave and serious
charges were preferred against Loftin, and he was
instructed to allow no one to see him. I
then suggested that if the charges against Loftin
were so serious, that he should have a trial, and investigation by the proper
officer had, and if found guilty, punished, and that promptly, so that evil
disposed persons might be deterred from committing like offences; but whether
guilty or innocent, he should be allowed the benefit of counsel. This you know,
Mr. Editor, is allowed the most degraded and abandoned, and if they are unable
to employ it is made obligatory on the Judges to assign them counsel. You are aware that we have a statutory
provision declaring any citizen or officer refusing to obey the writ of habeas corpus guilty of a high
misdemeanor, and for the first offence, subject to a fine of five hundred
dollars—for the second, one thousand. I
reminded Capt. McCoy of this provision, and inquired of him what would be his
course should I cause a writ to be issued by one of the Justices of the Peace
of Rowan county, requiring him to be bound over to answer an indictment to be
preferred for the commission of this high misdemeanor. He answered me that he would not be
arrested. I said to him I did not know
what course the Judge granting the writ would take to compel him to obey it,
but if an attachment was issued against him for contempt, and if the Sheriff of
Rowan county was commanded to summon the posse
to enable him to execute the writ, what would he then do? The reply was, I have two hundred bayonets or
muskets possibly was named; and upon further inquiring of him whether he had
two hundred good men to use them, I was informed he had.
This is a
succinct statement of the facts. And I
must further ask your indulgence to say, that Captain McCoy treated me
courteously and kindly. I found him to
be a gentleman of high intelligence possessing a will and determination to
carry out the orders of superior officers.
H.
A. BADHAM
I had forgot
to state on my return to Raleigh, my associate counsel, Col. D. G. Fowle waited on the Judge who declined to take any further
steps in the case.
Raleigh, Jan. 6, 1863 B
