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The Body Of John Merryman: Ex Parte Merryman, A Case Of Executive-Judicial Conflict Over The Suspension Of Habeas Corpus, Eric Paul Anderson
The Body Of John Merryman: Ex Parte Merryman, A Case Of Executive-Judicial Conflict Over The Suspension Of Habeas Corpus, Eric Paul Anderson
All Master's Theses
At the outbreak of the Civil War the Federal military arrested certain people whose loyalty was suspect. One victim, John Merryman, attempted to free himself by petitioning for a writ of habeas corpus. However, President Lincoln authorized the military to suspend the writ in such cases. The matter came before Chief Justice Taney who disputed the president's authority to suspend the writ and ruled in Merryman's favor. This thesis recounts the history of the habeas corpus process in Anglo-American law and its inclusion in the Constitution, Merryman's role in the first hostilities, his arrest, and the attempt to free him. …