Ex_Parte_Milligan

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Miami Dade College, Miami *

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Political Science

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Dec 6, 2023

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Ex Parte Milligan (1866): Overview The Ex Parte Milligan 1866 was a Supreme Court case involving the legal rights of a citizen being challenged in a military tribunal during a time of war. An Indiana citizen, Lambdin Milligan, had supported the Confederacy during the Civil War and was arrested for treason. He was tried in a military court, found guilty, and sentenced to death by hanging in 1865. Milligan and his lawyers sued the government by filing a habeas corpus suit in federal court claiming that Milligan was refused certain legal rights before being sentenced. This trial decision greatly impacted the executive branches power over detaining civilians, even during a time of war. The outcome of the ruling also challenged the use of military tribunals to try citizens. Ex Parte Milligan: Background The outbreak of the Civil War challenged the integrity of the United States as a nation. The nation was divided on many key issues relating to economic, social, and political factors. Although the war was fought predominately between the southern and northern states, many citizens living in both regions expressed views that countered the majority in their respective regions. For example, some southern citizens despised the ownership of slavery and desired to remain in the Union, despite their state voting to secede. In the context of Ex Parte Milligan case, many northerners sympathized with the Confederacy and supported them without taking up arms. Fighting the Civil War at Home Throughout the Civil War, the Union and the Confederacy faced challenges from their homefront. Dissenters at home were common and both sides had to use valuable resources to make sure the dissenters did not get out of hand. In the north, Democrats and Southern sympathizers worked hard to undermine Lincoln's efforts and to promote reconciliation. Suspending the Writ of Habeas Corpus Lincoln Administration's efforts to suspend the writ of Habeas Corpus during the Civil War was mostly successful but did face legal challenges and other obstacles closer to the end of the war. The Habeas Corpus Suspension Act of 1863 gave the president the right to suspend habeas corpus during a time of war and for those persons being held in military prisons for acts against the Union. The writ of habeas corpus is an order from a judge to present a prisoner to that court and explain why he or she is locked up. This is done when a prisoner wants to challenge his or her incarceration as being a violation of the Constitution. Ex Parte Milligan: Case Brief

A case brief is a summary of related laws, facts, issues, rulings, and opinions when a court decision is made. The Ex Parte Milligan case brief was used to guide judges in future military tribunals, habeas corpus cases, and trials involving incarceration rights of the accused. The Facts of the Case of Ex Parte Milligan Lambdin Milligan was a Confederate sympathizer living in the Union and also publicly criticized Lincoln's war policies. Milligan had joined a group of northern-based Confederate sympathizers called the "Copperheads." Lincoln feared any uprising with the Union's borders so ordered military districts to be set up in certain zones of the Union where military tribunals will be held to try cases of treason or aiding the Confederacy. Milligan was arrested with a group of Copperheads in his home in September of 1864 upon charges of aiding and giving comfort to the Confederacy. By October of the same year, he was sentenced to hang. By May of 1865, Milligan and his attorneys sued the government in federal district court. The Issues of Ex Parte Milligan The large issues at play in the case was focused on the rights of the accused as outlined in the Constitution, specifically in the Bill of Rights. The right to a trial by jury The right to be free of unlawful imprisonment 4th Amendment rights of unlawful searches and seizures The Ruling of Ex Parte Milligan Milligan tried the case in Circuit Court of the United States for the District of Indiana at Indianapolis but the court could not reach a decision, so they sent it to the Supreme Court. The Court ruled, in a 9-0 vote, unanimously for Milligan and overruled the government's power to hold a citizen without first granting legal rights to the accused. The court disagreed with the power of military tribunals to try citizens and hold authority over them. The Reasoning and Opinion of Ex Parte Milligan Justice Davis wrote the majority opinion and the follow judges joined in the opinion: Clifford, Field, Grier, and Nelson.

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