Ex parte Milligan
Supreme Court of the United States
Argued March 5, 1866 Decided April 3, 1866
Full case name: Ex parte Lambdin P. Milligan Citations: 71 U.S. 2; 4 Wall. 2; 18 L. Ed. 281; 1866 U.S. LEXIS 861 Prior history: This case came before the Court upon a certificate of division from the judges of the Circuit Court for Indiana, on a petition for discharge from unlawful imprisonment.
Holding
Suspension of habeas corpus is unconstitutional when civilian courts are still operating; the Constitution provided for suspension of habeas corpus only if civilian courts are actually forced closed.
Court membership
Chief Justice: Salmon P. Chase Associate Justices: James Moore Wayne, Samuel Nelson, Robert Cooper Grier, Nathan Clifford, Noah Haynes Swayne, Samuel Freeman Miller, David Davis, Stephen Johnson Field
Case opinions
Majority by: Davis Joined by: Clifford, Field, Grier, Nelson Concurrence by: Chase Joined by: Wayne, Swayne, Miller
Laws applied
U.S. Const.

Ex parte Milligan, 71 U.S. 2 (1866), was a United States Supreme Court case that ruled suspension of Habeas Corpus when civilian courts are still operating as unconstitutional. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... The Supreme Court of the United States (sometimes colloquially referred to by the acronym SCOTUS[1]) is the highest judicial body in the United States and leads the federal judiciary. ... Lambdin P. Milligan (March 24, 1812 – December 21, 1899) was a lawyer, farmer, and a leader of the Knights of the Golden Circle. ... For other uses, see Habeas corpus (disambiguation). ... Page I of the Constitution of the United States of America Page II of the United States Constitution Page III of the United States Constitution Page IV of the United States Constitution The Syng inkstand, with which the Constitution was signed The Constitution of the United States is the supreme... Salmon Portland Chase (January 13, 1808 – May 7, 1873) was an American politician and jurist in the Civil War era who served as Senator from Ohio, Governor of Ohio, as U.S. Treasury Secretary under President Abraham Lincoln, and Chief Justice of the United States. ... Justice Wayne, in an 1855 photograph by Matthew Brady James Moore Wayne (1790 - July 5, 1867) was an Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court and a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Georgia. ... Samuel Nelson (10 November 1792 - 13 December 1873) was an American attorney and U.S. Supreme Court justice. ... Robert Cooper Grier (March 5, 1794-September 25, 1870), was an American jurist. ... Nathan Clifford (August 18, 1803–July 25, 1881) was an American statesman, diplomat and jurist. ... Noah Haynes Swayne (December 7, 1804 - June 8, 1884) was an American jurist and politician. ... Samuel Freeman Miller (April 5, 1816 - October 13, 1890), was an associate justice of the United States Supreme Court, 1862-1890. ... David Davis III (March 9, 1815 - June 26, 1886) was a United States Senator from Illinois and associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. ... Stephen Johnson Field (November 4, 1816 – April 9, 1899) was an associate justice of the United States Supreme Court from May 20, 1863, to December 1, 1897. ... Wikisource has original text related to this article: The United States Constitution The United States Constitution is the supreme law of the United States of America. ... The Supreme Court of the United States (sometimes colloquially referred to by the acronym SCOTUS[1]) is the highest judicial body in the United States and leads the federal judiciary. ... For other uses, see Habeas corpus (disambiguation). ...

Background of the case

Lambdin P. Milligan and four others were accused of planning to steal Union weapons and invade Union prisoner-of-war camps. Once the first prisoner of war camp was liberated they planned to use the liberated soldiers to help fight against the Government of Indiana and free other camps of Confederate soldiers. They also planned to take over the state governments of Indiana, Ohio, and Michigan. When the plan leaked, they were charged, found guilty, and sentenced to hang by a military court in 1864. However, their execution was not set until May 1865, so they were able to argue the case after the Civil War ended. Lambdin P. Milligan (March 24, 1812 – December 21, 1899) was a lawyer, farmer, and a leader of the Knights of the Golden Circle. ... Animated map of secession, Civil War and re-admission:  States of the Union  Territories of the Union (including occupied territory)  States of the Confederacy  Territories claimed by Confederacy During the American Civil War, the Union was a name used to refer to the twenty-three states of the United States... A Prisoner-of-war camp is a site for the containment of persons captured by the enemy in time of war. ... For other uses, see Indiana (disambiguation). ... This article is about the U.S. State. ... This article is about the U.S. State. ... 1864 (MDCCCLXIV) was a leap year starting on Friday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a leap year starting on Sunday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar. ... Year 1865 (MDCCLXV) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Friday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... Combatants United States of America (Union) Confederate States of America (Confederacy) Commanders Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee Strength 2,200,000 1,064,000 Casualties 110,000 killed in action, 360,000 total dead, 275,200 wounded 93,000 killed in action, 258,000 total...

Arguments

The argument for the United States was delivered by Benjamin F. Butler, a Massachusetts lawyer and state legislator, and future Governor of Massachusetts. Benjamin Franklin Butler (November 5, 1818 – January 11, 1893) was an American lawyer and politician who represented Massachusetts in the United States House of Representatives and later served as its governor. ...

The argument for the petitioner was delivered by Jeremiah S. Black, former Attorney General and Secretary of State, James A. Garfield, future President, and New York lawyer David Dudley Field. Jeremiah Sullivan Black (January 10, 1810–August 19, 1883) was an American statesman and lawyer. ... For his son, also a prominent politician, see James Rudolph Garfield. ...

The Court's decision

Lambdin P. Milligan

The Supreme Court decided that the suspension of habeas corpus was lawful, but military tribunals did not apply to citizens in states that had upheld the authority of the Constitution and where civilian courts were still operating, and the Constitution of the United States provided for suspension of habeas corpus only if these courts are actually forced closed. In essence, the Court ruled that military tribunals could not try civilians in areas where civil courts were open, even during times of war. For other uses, see Habeas corpus (disambiguation). ... Page I of the Constitution of the United States of America Page II of the United States Constitution Page III of the United States Constitution Page IV of the United States Constitution The Syng inkstand, with which the Constitution was signed The Constitution of the United States is the supreme...

It observed further that during the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus, citizens may be only held without charges, not tried, and certainly not executed by military tribunals. After all, the writ of habeas corpus is not the right itself but merely the ability to issue orders demanding the right's enforcement.

It is important to note the political environment of the decision. Post-war, under a Republican Congress, the Court was reluctant to hand down any decision that questioned the legitimacy of military courts, especially in the occupied South. The President's ability to suspend habeas corpus independently of Congress, a central issue, was not addressed probably because it was moot with respect to the case at hand. Though President Lincoln suspended the writ nationwide on September 24, 1862, Congress ratified almost six months later, on March 3, 1863. Milligan was detained in 1864, well after Congress formally suspended the writ. That notwithstanding, military jurisdiction had been limited. GOP redirects here. ... Type Bicameral Houses Senate House of Representatives President of the Senate President pro tempore Dick Cheney, (R) since January 20, 2001 Robert C. Byrd, (D) since January 4, 2007 Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, (D) since January 4, 2007 Members 535 plus 4 Delegates and 1 Resident Commissioner Political...

See also

• Supreme Court cases of the American Civil War
• List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 71
• Ex Parte Merryman
• Ex parte Quirin
• Hamdi v. Rumsfeld

A number of cases were tried before the Supreme Court of the United States during the period of the American Civil War. ... This is a list of all the United States Supreme Court cases from volume 71: 71 U.S. (4 Wall. ... Ex parte Merryman, (1861), is a well-known U.S. federal court case which arose out of the American Civil War. ... Holding The Court upheld the jurisdiction of a United States military tribunal over the trial of several German saboteurs in the United States. ... Holding U.S. citizens designated as enemy combatants by the Executive Branch have a right to challenge their detainment under the Due Process Clause. ...

References

• Klaus, Samuel. The Milligan Case. New York: Da Capo Press, 1970.

External links

• Full text of the decision courtesy of Findlaw.com
• Historical analysis of the case - Elisheva Ruth Coleman Princeton University senior thesis