Law Commons^™

The Impeachment And Removal Of Tennessee Judge West Humphreys: John Bingham's Prologue To The Johnson Impeachment Trial, Richard Aynes

Akron Law Faculty Publications

At the beginning of the Civil War many individuals who held positions under the United States government submitted resignations which, in their minds, allowed them to assume positions with the so-called government of the Confederate States of America. One of the few individuals who did not do so, but nevertheless assumed a position under the Confederate States of America was U.S. District Judge West H. Humphreys. After the Confederacy was formed, he continued to hold court in the same courtroom but under the guise of a Confederate States Judge.

This presented two problems for President Lincoln and the Unionists. First, …