Talk:Lettre de cachet

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Can the king of France still throw people in the Chateau d'If without trial? This article which I semi-ruthlessly edited, stops in 1814. Ortolan88

It's hard to say, as there hasn't been a king of France since 1870. (Or were you trolling?) zadcat 20:16 Aug 29, 2002 (PDT)

A serious question posed in what I hoped was an amusing manner. I wasn't trolling (a pretty serious accusation in my book), just acting on the assumption that people could read between the lines.

I guess not, so here are my observations and questions.

The legal status of the lettre de cachet is left hanging in this article. The article is incomplete without explaining when these things came to an end. I'm pretty sure Charles de Gaulle didn't have the power, or he might have used it.

Charles de Gaulle did not have this power, nor do I think any president of the Republic (unless you perhaps count is as a possible component of the emergency powers of the President). Furthermore, de Gaulle was not a dictator. On the other hand, he tried, in a move ironically similar to that of George W. Bush 40 years later, to establish special tribunals to try terrorists and conspirators, through an ordinance if I remember well. The creations of the tribunal was declared illegal by the Conseil d'État (which greatly annoyed de Gaulle). David.Monniaux 15:45, 24 Jul 2004 (UTC)

So, when and how did it end? Did it end with the last king in 1870 (who wasn't a king, by the way, but an an emperor, Napoleon's nephew)? What brought it to an end? After all, Nixon thought something the same, "If the President does it it can't be wrong."

The Chateau d'If is where the Count of Monte Christo served time and then escaped. He was a fictional character. Ortolan88

Didn't mean to accuse you of serious trolling, more or less "trolling for giggles" - sorry. I'll use it sparingly in future. zadcat 10:45 Aug 30, 2002 (PDT)

Okay, thanks, I thought it was that. It's just that when we're not face to face, we don't always see the wink. I'll have to remember that. I wonder if anyone is going to fix the article. Ortolan88

There's only one sure way to find out... --Brion

I fixed it a quite a bit already and I might do some more, but someone who knows more about the evolution of the law, how this fits with bills of attainder, secret indictments and stuff, might be able to bring it forward in a way I couldn't. If you think about it, the lettres de cachet have a certain modern sound to them.

If I salt a talk page with some ideas about what an article needs, that doesn't mean I'm sloughing off my obligations. Maybe I'm fulfilling my obligations by making the best contribution I know how. It's not as if I weren't working on other articles. Ortolan88

[edit] Michel Foucault

As far as I can tell there is nothing relevant in our Michel Foucault article, so I dropped that article from "See also". If Foucault wrote on the topic (maybe in Discipline and Punish? I don't remember it particularly, but I read that 20 years ago) it probably belongs in the 'pedia somewhere, maybe here, but just a "see also" to his name isn't much use to a reader. - Jmabel | Talk 17:33, 11 February 2006 (UTC)