Desperate times call for desperate measures: Abraham Lincoln is famously known for challenging the U.S. Supreme Court during his presidency, particularly over its decisions on civil liberties during the Civil War. One of the most notable instances involved the case of Ex parte Merryman in 1861.
Here’s the story:
When the Civil War broke out, Lincoln took unprecedented steps to maintain control and prevent Confederate sympathies from undermining the Union. One such step was suspending habeas corpus, the legal principle that protects individuals from arbitrary detention. The suspension allowed the government to detain suspected Confederate sympathizers, spies, and agitators without immediately charging them with a crime.
John Merryman, a Maryland state legislator with Confederate sympathies, was one of those detained. His lawyer petitioned for a writ of habeas corpus to secure his release, which led the case to Chief Justice Roger B. Taney (the same Taney who wrote the infamous Dred Scott decision just a few years prior). Taney ruled that Lincoln’s suspension of habeas corpus was unconstitutional because only Congress had the power to suspend it, not the president.
Lincoln, however, essentially ignored Taney’s ruling. He continued to allow the detention of suspected Confederate sympathizers, justifying his actions as necessary to preserve the Union in a time of rebellion. Lincoln argued that extraordinary times called for extraordinary measures and, famously, he asked, “Are all the laws but one to go unexecuted, and the government itself go to pieces, lest that one be violated?”
In 1863, Congress passed the Habeas Corpus Suspension Act, effectively legalizing Lincoln’s actions retroactively. This episode remains one of the most cited examples of a U.S. president challenging the judiciary and taking extraordinary measures in a time of national crisis.
Lincoln’s defiance of the Supreme Court in Ex parte Merryman has been hotly debated, raising questions about executive power, civil liberties during wartime, and the limits of judicial authority.
Lookin good Lindy. I see what you did there with the blue kamala (lotus flower)
print dress. 🪷
#KamalaHarris needs to stay in close touch with the powerhouse orator,
Michelle Obama.
Subtle but powerful. 💙 🙏
Desperate times call for desperate measures: Abraham Lincoln is famously known for challenging the U.S. Supreme Court during his presidency, particularly over its decisions on civil liberties during the Civil War. One of the most notable instances involved the case of Ex parte Merryman in 1861.
Here’s the story:
When the Civil War broke out, Lincoln took unprecedented steps to maintain control and prevent Confederate sympathies from undermining the Union. One such step was suspending habeas corpus, the legal principle that protects individuals from arbitrary detention. The suspension allowed the government to detain suspected Confederate sympathizers, spies, and agitators without immediately charging them with a crime.
John Merryman, a Maryland state legislator with Confederate sympathies, was one of those detained. His lawyer petitioned for a writ of habeas corpus to secure his release, which led the case to Chief Justice Roger B. Taney (the same Taney who wrote the infamous Dred Scott decision just a few years prior). Taney ruled that Lincoln’s suspension of habeas corpus was unconstitutional because only Congress had the power to suspend it, not the president.
Lincoln, however, essentially ignored Taney’s ruling. He continued to allow the detention of suspected Confederate sympathizers, justifying his actions as necessary to preserve the Union in a time of rebellion. Lincoln argued that extraordinary times called for extraordinary measures and, famously, he asked, “Are all the laws but one to go unexecuted, and the government itself go to pieces, lest that one be violated?”
In 1863, Congress passed the Habeas Corpus Suspension Act, effectively legalizing Lincoln’s actions retroactively. This episode remains one of the most cited examples of a U.S. president challenging the judiciary and taking extraordinary measures in a time of national crisis.
Lincoln’s defiance of the Supreme Court in Ex parte Merryman has been hotly debated, raising questions about executive power, civil liberties during wartime, and the limits of judicial authority.