Ex parte McCardle, 74 U.S. (7 Walls.) 506

Supreme Court of the United States

1869

Chapter

1

Title

The Role of the Supreme Court in the Constitutional Order

Page

75

Topic

The Sources of Judicial Decisions

Quick Notes

o         The appellate jurisdiction of the Supreme Court is derived from Article III, Section 2 of the constitution, not from acts of Congress.  However, Congress has the power to expand and limit the scope of the appellate jurisdiction of the Supreme Court.

Book Name

Constitutional Law : Stone, Seidman, Sunstein, Tushnet.  ISBN:  978-0-7355-7719-0.

Issue

o         Does Congress have the power to make exceptions to the Supreme Courts appellate jurisdiction in cases in which it has already granted jurisdiction?

o         Must the Court always first determine if it is has jurisdiction to review a case?

o         Whether Congress can take away the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court as to habeus corpus acts, which jurisdiction was granted in the 1867 Act.  Yes

Procedure

Trial

o         McCardle Lost.

o         McCardle sought habeas corpus from a Federal Court in Mississippi.

Appellant

o         Mississippi Appellate Court refused to hear the case.

Supreme

o         Dismissed for want of jurisdiction.

Facts

Discussion

Key Phrases

Rules

Ex parte (Judges decision not requiring all parties to be present)

Df - McCardle

Party Description

o          McCardle was a newspaper publisher in the post-civil war south.

Arrested

o         He was arrested for under charges of libel; distributing the peace; inciting insurrection, disorder, and violence; and impeding reconstruction.

5th Argument Argument

o         McCardle argued that the Reconcstruction Acts were an unconstitutional violation of his rights under the 5th Amendment because he wasn't a member of the military and shouldn't be tried in a military court.

Brought Habeas Corpus

o         McCardle brought a habeas corpus act under an Act of Congress of 1867 which authorized the federal courts to grant habeus corpus to anyone restrained in violation of the Constitution, and gave the Supreme Court appellate jurisdiction over such actions.

Congress Feared

o         Congress feared that the case would be vehicle for invalidating the reconstruction plan.

Repealed Habeas Corpus

o         So, before the case was ruled upon, Congress there enacted a statute that repealed the provision of the 1867 habeas corpus act that McCardle invoked.

o    Habeas Corpus gave the Supreme Court appellate jurisdiction to hear cases where a person seeks relief from unlawful detention.

Article III, Section Supreme Courts Appellate Jurisdiction

o         The appellate jurisdiction of the Supreme Court is derived from Article III, Section 2 of the constitution, not from acts of Congress.

Exception Congress shall make to appellate jurisdiction

o         It is true that the appellate jurisdiction is granted by the constitution, but in the same article, it is made expressly subject to such exceptions and under such regulations as Congress shall make.

o         Thus, Congress has the power to expand and limit the scope of the appellate jurisdiction of the Supreme Court.

o         Congress was acting clearly within its power in both granting and then repealing the specific jurisdiction to review habeas corpus cases from the Circuit Courts pursuant to the Act of 1867.

o         The Act of 1868 does not affect the appellate jurisdiction with regard to any other cases.

What does it mean to repeal an act

o         In this case, the repeal of the act necessarily removed jurisdiction.

o         Without jurisdiction, the Court cannot proceed; the only thing it can do is announce that fact and dismiss the cause of action.

o         When a legislative act is repealed, it is as if it had never existed except in transactions past and closed.

o         Thus, no judgment can be rendered in a suit after repeal of the act under which it was brought.

Holding

o         Dismissed for want of jurisdiction.

Rules

Article III [Scope of Judicial Power]

Section 2.

• The judicial power shall extend to all cases, in law and equity, arising under this Constitution, the laws of the United States, and treaties made, or which shall be made, under their authority;
  • --to all cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls;
  • --to all cases of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction;
  • --to controversies to which the United States shall be a party;
  • --to controversies between two or more states;
  • --between a state and citizens of another state;
  • --between citizens of different states;
  • --between citizens of the same state claiming lands under grants of different states, and between a state, or the citizens thereof, and foreign states, citizens or subjects.

Original Jurisdiction

• In all cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls, and those in which a state shall be party, the Supreme Court shall have original jurisdiction.

Appellate Jurisdiction

• In all the other cases before mentioned, the Supreme Court shall have appellate jurisdiction, both as to law and fact, with such exceptions, and under such regulations as the Congress shall make.

• The trial of all crimes, except in cases of impeachment, shall be by jury; and such trial shall be held in the state where the said crimes shall have been committed; but when not committed within any state, the trial shall be at such place or places as the Congress may by law have directed.

Class Notes