Go to next caseDuring the Civil War, with civil liberties in the North being constricted, officials of the United States arrested several antiwar Democrats in Indiana. The president feared the weak support for the war in Indiana would lead to an acquittal by an Indiana jury. Therefore, the politicians were not given a trial by jury, but rather were held as military prisoners and convicted. One of the defendents, Milligan, appealed. The Supreme Court found in favor of the defendants, stating "the Constitution...is a law for the rulers and people, equally in war and peace, and covers...all...men, at all times, and under all circumstances." The Court went on to hold that the president's power to suspend the writ of habeas corpus in a time of war did not extend to creating another court system run by the military.
* The content on this page and the pages to which it is linked are based on the information from Anatomy of a Murder: A Trip Through Our Nation's Legal Justice System.
