Ex Parte Milligan

"The importance of the main question presented by this record cannot be overstated; for it involves the very framework of the government and the fundamental principles of American liberty."

-Justice Davis

Wars tear countries apart. During wartime, laws are often not followed as they should be and the legal system becomes lax. The military of a country may abuse the power of martial law granted to them during war. Laws may be created on the spot to serve a personal purpose to someone of power and people may be wrongfully punished. All of these things are warning signs that democracy is at risk

During the civil war, the government did many questionable things -including President Lincoln's suspension of the writ of habeas corpus. Habeas corpus, which in Latin means, "Produce the body", states the holders of a prisoner must release the person to the court to face the charges brought against the person. This writ means that a party cannot hold a person prisoner indefinitely; they cannot make a person simply disappear. Lincoln suspended the writ during the war to control the rebel threat. During the Civil War, there were citizens of loyal states who secretly sympathized with the rebels. There was a struggle to arrest all these "traitors" who most often were not tried lawfully.

Lambden P. Milligan was one such "traitor". He was arrested at home in Indiana on October 5, 1864 by the order of Brevet Major-General Hovey, military commandant of the District of Indiana. On October 21, Milligan was put on trial before a military commission and accused of the following:

1. Conspiracy against the government of the United States

2. Affording aid and comfort to rebels against the authority of the United States

3. Inciting insurrection

4. Disloyal practices

5. Violation of the laws of war.

More specifically, he was accused of joining and aiding a secret society known as the Order of American Knights whose purpose was to overthrow the government; communicating with the rebels; planning to seize weapons of war; trying to liberate prisoners of war; and resisting the draft to join the Union military.

The military commission found Milligan guilty of all the charges brought against him and sentenced him to death by hanging. The execution was approved by the president and set to be on May 19, 1865. As his execution date drew near, Milligan's attorney filed an appeal with the Supreme Court on May 10, 1865 under the writ of habeas corpus. The Supreme Court took Milligan's case in 1866, after the war had ended.

Milligan's attorney argued to the Supreme Court that his client who was a citizen of the United States and of Indiana, a state of the Union, had had his rights violated and that the military had no jurisdiction to try him. The Supreme Court ruled in Milligan's favor and declared his military trial and also the military's said jurisdiction to be unlawful.

The court reasoned that, as a United States citizen, Milligan had the right to be tried by an impartial jury of his peers. Milligan had never at any time been in the service of the military of the United States or in any way connected with the land or naval force or the militia. A jury made up of civilians would have been a jury of Milligan's peers, but a jury made up military officers, as Milligan's was, was a violation of his rights.

Some judges argued that the military had proper jurisdiction under martial law. Martial law is the military's temporary rule over a civilian population during a time of war. Under such law, the military would have proper jurisdiction to try anyone they liked if the district courts had been closed. However, the courts in Indiana were open.

The Supreme Court also ruled that because the military didn't turn Milligan over to the district courts, the writ of habeas corpus had been violated. After the Supreme Court ruled that the military trial of Milligan had been unlawful, Milligan was released of the charges and went free.

An important figure in the Milligan case was the justice who wrote the majority opinion: David Davis. Davis was born in 1815 in Cecil County, Maryland. His father died before he was born and his mother remarried a man named Franklin Betts who stole money from Davis that his father had left to him. Because Betts stole money from him, Davis went to live with an uncle. Because of this incident, Davis had to learn self-reliance at an early age. Davis studied at Kenyon College in Ohio and graduated in 1832 when he was only seventeen years old. After college he studied law at Yale Law School. Then he studied law in Massachusetts with a judge. In 1836 Davis moved to Bloomington, Illinois, and became a circuit lawyer. Davis met Abraham Lincoln in Vandalia, Illinois, when they were both riding the circuit as lawyers. Davis later became a circuit judge.

Davis and Lincoln were very good friends. When Lincoln ran for president, Davis became Lincoln's campaign manager. In 1862, to thank Davis, Lincoln appointed him to the United States Supreme Court. During Davis' fifteen years as a Supreme Court Judge, people recognized that he had the moral courage to make his own decisions; he said what he thought was right instead of what other people though was right. Davis expressed his opinion that the military could not try a person unless he was a soldier in Ex Parte Milligan. Perhaps it was the overcoming of the obstacles of his early life that gave Davis the moral courage to take the stands he did in this case.

Ex Parte Milligan is a landmark case because it sets precedent for writs of habeas corpus and the protection of civil liberties at times of war. The military has no right to try a civilian when the district courts are open, even when habeas corpus has been suspended. The military only has the right to try military officers and not civilians in these situations. Even today, the precedence of this case is relevant. The current government has stated a desire to detain U.S. citizens arrested on U.S. soil and suspend habeas corpus.

The essence of Ex Parte Milligan is that U.S. citizens always have access to the courts for trials and the determination of sentences. I agree with the Supreme Court's ruling in this case and believe that it has become a cornerstone of a citizen's protection from the government. In the case, Milligan, a U.S. citizen and a citizen of a Union state, is arrested by the military on U.S. soil when the courts are open because the military suspects him of disloyal activities. The military had no right to hold and