3 Alb. Govt. L. Rev. 575 (2010)
Saikrishna Bangalore Prakash
The Emancipation Proclamation leads many Americans to
regard Abraham Lincoln as the “Great Emancipator.” Others are
not so laudatory, doubting whether he did enough to end the
South’s “peculiar institution.” These observers regard Lincoln as
principally concerned with saving the Union, rather than ending
slavery.
There is a more fitting title for Lincoln, one utterly beyond
cavil. Call him “The Great Suspender of the Great Writ.” He
undoubtedly earned this sobriquet, having suspended the
privilege of the writ of habeas corpus or delegated suspension
authority almost a dozen times. He also has the distinction of
being the only President ever to suspend the privilege of the
Great Writ unilaterally and the only one to do so throughout the
nation.