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| Field name | Value |
|---|---|
| Collection Reference Number | GLC08557 |
| From Archive Folder | Unassociated Civil War Documents 1862 |
| Title | Decision of Chief Justice Taney in the Merryman case, upon the writ of habeas corpus. |
| Date | 1862 |
| Author | Taney, Roger Brooke (1777-1864) |
| Document Type | Pamphlet; Legal document |
| Content Description | Printed by John Campbell. Published by John Campbell. Second addition. Taney states "The Constitution provides, as I have before said, that 'no person shall be deprived of life, liberty or property, without due process of law.' It declares that 'the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effect, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated' ... It provides that the party accused shall be entitled to a speedy trial in a Court of justice. And these great and fundamental laws, which Congress, itself, could not suspend, have been disregarded, and suspended, like the Writ of Habeas Corpus, by a military order, supported by force of arms ... I have exercised all the power which the Constitution and laws confer on me, but that power had been resisted by a force too strong for me to overcome..." Duplicate of GLC08599.12. |
| Subjects | Judiciary Supreme Court Law Civil Rights Bill of Rights US Constitution Military Law Habeas Corpus Civil War Military History Union Forces |
| People | Taney, Roger Brooke (1777-1864) Merryman, John (1824-1881) |
| Place written | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Theme | Law; Government & Politics |
| Sub-collection | Papers and Images of the American Civil War |
| Additional Information | In 1861, President Abraham Lincoln suspended the writ of habeas corpus for all military related cases. Suspension of this writ, which is guaranteed by Article I of the United States Constitution, provoked much controversy. In opposition to Lincoln's action, Taney upheld that the executive did not have the power to suspend the writ. |
| Module | Civil War, Reconstruction and the Modern Era: 1860-1945 |