Mudd slinging

As if the US courts were not already fit to burst with hapless litigation, Obiter has learnt of a challenge to the jurisdiction of a military commission - a mere 137 years after it sat.

The commission in question convicted Dr Samuel Mudd - the man who treated the injured John Wilkes Booth after his escape from Ford's Theatre in Washington, where he assassinated President Abraham Lincoln.

He was convicted of aiding and abetting as an accessory after the fact in the conspiracy to kill Lincoln and other officials, and sentenced to life imprisonment.

According to the National Law Journal, the challenge is led by Mudd's 101-year-old grandson, and argues that the commission lacked jurisdiction for reasons far too boring and pointless to get into, and that the trial violated his right to a civilian jury trial.

We wouldn't wish to treat too lightly the stain on the Mudd family's reputation - although it's worth noting that Samuel was pardoned by Lincoln's successor, Andrew Johnson, because of his work during a yellow fever epidemic while in prison - but isn't it time to let this one go?