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| Field name | Value |
|---|---|
| Collection Reference Number | GLC00833 |
| From Archive Folder | Unassociated Civil War Documents 1861 |
| Title | Full proceedings of the Merryman habeas corpus case, Baltimore |
| Date | 1861 |
| Author | Power, J. L. (fl. 1861) |
| Additional authors | United States Supreme Court |
| Document Type | Pamphlet; Legal document |
| Content Description | Prints the proceedings of the Merryman case and Chief Justice Roger B. Taney's decision that Lincoln's suspension of habeas corpus was unconstitutional. |
| Subjects | US Constitution Habeas Corpus Law Government and Civics Civil Rights Civil War Military History Supreme Court Judiciary Military Law Union Forces |
| People | Power, J. L. (fl. 1861) Taney, Roger Brooke (1777-1864) Merryman, John (1824-1881) |
| Place written | Jackson, Mississippi |
| Theme | The American Civil War; Law |
| Sub-collection | Papers and Images of the American Civil War |
| Additional Information | After the fall of Fort Sumter in 1861, President Lincoln suspended the right of due process and implemented martial law, arresting some 18,000 civilians as secessionists. John Merryman, an avowed secessionist, was arrested and detained. Taney found that Merryman was being held unlawfully and issued a writ of habeas corpus. The jail official refused to comply, citing that he was complying with an order from President Lincoln. Taney held that only Congress had the power to suspend habeas corpus, not the president. |
| Copyright | The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History |
| Module | Civil War, Reconstruction and the Modern Era: 1860-1945 |