United States Court for Berlin
[b] On 28 April 1955, only a few days before the occupation regime terminated in the rest of Germany, the High Commissioner promulgated Law No.The Court was only convened once, in 1979,[4] to hear the jury trial of the LOT Flight 165 hijacking defendants.[5][6] The case (U.S. v. Tiede) was notable in holding that the reach of the United States Constitution was a legal rather than a political question,[7] citing jurisprudence dating back to Ex parte Milligan,[8] where the United States Supreme Court had declared, "The Constitution of the United States is a law for rulers and people, equally in war and in peace, and covers with the shield of its protection all classes of men, at all times, and under all circumstances."[9] During his appointment, Judge Herbert Jay Stern was subjected to intense diplomatic pressure, which he alluded to when he sentenced Tiede to time served, and noted that there was "probably not a great future" for the Court.[11] Walter J. Stoessel Jr. (at that time the United States Ambassador to West Germany) advised Stern that his appointment was only for the criminal case that had been heard, and it was accordingly terminated.