Ex parte Milligan
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| Decided April 3, 1866 |
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Civil rights and institutional protection by civil courts can not be overridden by martial law as long as those courts are functional. |
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A decision of the United States Supreme Court from 1866 is referred to as ex parte Milligan . The decision is considered a precedent for the importance of the habeas corpus in a state of emergency and is one of the few decisions on the scope of the powers of the President of the United States in the event of war and is therefore also a forerunner of the decision in the Hamdan v. Rumsfeld from 2005.
Historical background
During the Civil War there was an opposition to the war, the so-called Copperheads , which sympathized with the southern states within the territory of the Union . The term Copperhead referred to the copperhead snake that bites without warning. This name comes from their political opponents. One of the supporters of this political direction was the lawyer Lambdin P. Milligan (* 1812, † 1899) from Huntington County , Indiana .
Because of the widespread support of the southern states, the US government faced the problem of how to deal with cases of high treason , sabotage or espionage very early on . This question was a sensitive and controversial one throughout the war. Essential civil rights were largely abolished : house searches without a court order or arrests of sympathizers from the South without trial were widespread in the northern states. On September 24, 1862, Abraham Lincoln issued a proclamation according to which rebels, their representatives, supporters and helpers on the territory of the Union and all persons who hinder the recruitment of volunteers , evade military service or are guilty of other disloyal acts subject to martial law and tried before military courts. Lincoln's decree was upheld by a law of March 3, 1863 by Congress .
The state of Indiana was considered a loyal state to the Union. In July 1863 Confederate troops under John Hunt Morgan ( Morgan's Raid ) had advanced to Indiana, but otherwise the state was spared from war.
facts
In July 1864, a group of Indiana citizens turned to the Indiana Military District commander, Brigadier General Henry B. Carrington , asking for protection from the Order of Sons of Liberty , a paramilitary group of militant copperheads they pressured . In return for protection granted, these citizens submitted plans by the Copperheads , including a planned raid on the Union Army's arsenal in Indianapolis . Various names of people belonging to the Order of Sons of Liberty were also mentioned. Among other things, the lawyer Lambdin P. Milligan, who was referred to as the Major General of the Copperheads . Carrington tightened security but otherwise just kept a file on the matter. In October 1865, Carrington was replaced as commander of the Indiana Military District by Alvin Hovey . Hovey arranged for Milligan and others to be arrested on October 5. Together with three other defendants, he was then tried before a military tribunal, which was composed of officers from Hovey's staff. After co-defendant Midway agreed to serve as key witness , Milligan and the other two defendants were convicted on October 23 of, among other things, conspiracy and war crimes. Milligan was sentenced to death . The date of execution was set for May 19, 1865. On April 9, General Lee surrendered at Appomattox Court House and on April 26, General Johnston , ending the Civil War. Milligan's attorneys had reached out to President Abraham Lincoln , who in a private conversation agreed to overturn the sentence, at least on the death penalty, if the war was to end before Milligan's execution. On April 15, 1865, however, Lincoln was assassinated before he could take appropriate action. His successor Andrew Johnson was not aware of the agreement with Lincoln, so legal action had to be initiated.
process
Milligan put appeal against the decision of the Military Court at the Federal Circuit Court for the District of Indiana one. He alleged that, on the one hand, he was not subject to the jurisdiction of the military courts and, on the other hand, he had been denied his right to a trial before a jury of equals. He also invoked the principles of the habeas corpus . The court dismissed Milligan's motion, so the case was brought to the Supreme Court.
Decision of the court
The Supreme Court ruled Milligan. The verdict was drafted by Judge David Davis , joined by four Judges Nathan Clifford , Stephen Johnson Field , Robert Cooper Grier and Samuel Nelson . The reasoning of the judgment itself was based on the one hand on the literal interpretation of the constitution, on the other hand, in the context of a historical and teleological interpretation, on the great importance that the protection of civil rights ( Bill of Rights ), especially the 4th , 5th and 6th Had amendments to the United States Constitution for the Constitutional Fathers.
literature
- Lee Arbetman / Richard L. Roe, Great Trials in American History , West Publishing Company, St. Paul, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, 1985, ISBN 0-314-80461-7 , pp. 1-11
Web links
- Curtis A. Bradley, The Story of Ex parte Milligan: Military Trials, Enemy Combatants, and Congressional Authorization , www.law.virginia.edu (English; PDF file; 261 kB)
- Allan Nevins, The Case of the Copperhead Conspirator , review of the case
- Ex Parte Milligan on the side of the US Embassy in Germany (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ War and Treaty Powers , www.law.umkc.edu ( Memento of the original of September 13, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Allan Nevins, The Case of the Copperhead Conspirator (English)
- ↑ Curtis A. Bradley, The Story of Ex parte Milligan: Military Trials, Enemy Combatants, and Congressional Authorization , www.law.virginia.edu ( Memento of the original from May 17, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 268 kB)
- ↑ Brian C. Baldrate, The Supreme Court's Role in Defining the Jurisdiction of Military in: Military Law Review, p. 1 (39) (PDF; 1.0 MB)
