Salmon P. Chase

Name: Ex parte Yerger — Opinion of the Court
Author: Salmon P. Chase

Summary

"Ex parte Yerger — Opinion of the Court," authored by Chief Justice Salmon P. Chase, addresses the jurisdiction of U.S. courts in habeas corpus cases, examining the legality of a prisoner’s confinement under the Judiciary Act of 1789 and subsequent legislative amendments. The opinion grapples with the scope of appellate power, the function of the Circuit Court, and the constitutional safeguards against unlawful imprisonment.

Central to the case is the tension between congressional measures restricting appeals and the fundamental judicial responsibility to protect individual freedom. Chase’s analysis underscores the enduring principle that judicial review remains a crucial remedy against unlawful detention, even as legislative structures change.

Quotes from Ex parte Yerger — Opinion of the Court (Salmon P. Chase)

Salmon P. Chase, Ex parte Yerger — Opinion of the Court

“ Has the court jurisdiction, in a case like the present, to inquire into the cause of detention, alleged to be unlawful, and to give relief, if the detention be found to be in fact unlawful, by the writ of habeas corpus, under the Judiciary Act of 1789?
2. If, under that act, the court possessed this jurisdiction, has it been taken away by the second section of the act of March, 27, 1868, [8] repealing so much of the act of February 5, 1867, [9] as authorizes appeals from Circuit Courts to the Supreme Court? ”

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Source: Wikisource

Salmon P. Chase, Ex parte Yerger — Opinion of the Court

“ In the particular class of cases, of which that before the court is an example, when the custody to which the prisoner is remanded is that of some authority other than that of the remanding court, it is evident that the imprisoned citizen, however unlawful his imprisonment may be in fact, is wholly without remedy unless it be found in the appellate jurisdiction of this court. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Salmon P. Chase, Ex parte Yerger — Opinion of the Court

“ In England, all the higher courts where open to applicants for the writ, and it is hardly supposable that, under the new government, founded on more liberal ideas and principles, any court would be, intentionally, closed to them. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Salmon P. Chase, Ex parte Yerger — Opinion of the Court

“ Independent of authority, it is clear, on principle, that the exercise of the appellate power is not limited to any particular form. When the object is to revise a judicial proceeding the mode is wholly unimportant, and a writ of habeas corpus, mandamus, certificate of division, writ of error, appeal, or certiorari may be used, if the legislature so determine. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Salmon P. Chase, Ex parte Yerger — Opinion of the Court

“ It might as well be said, when a child is left in possession of his father after a hearing on habeas corpus seeking to get him out of it, that the father holds his child by judgment of the court, as here that the prisoner is in General Granger's custody by judgment of the Circuit Court. In the case of the child, the father holds the child in virtue of his parental right, which the court perceiving, has asserted. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Salmon P. Chase, Ex parte Yerger — Opinion of the Court

“ But this limitation has been gradually narrowed, and the benefits of the writ have been extended, first in 1833, [20] to prisoners confined under any authority, whether State of National, for any act done or omitted in pursuance of a law of the United States, or of any order, process, or decree of any judge of court of the United States; then in 1842 [21] to prisoners being subjects or citizens of foreign States, in custody under National or State authority for acts done or omitted by or under color of foreign authority, and alleged to be valid under the law of nations ”

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Source: Wikisource

Salmon P. Chase, Ex parte Yerger — Opinion of the Court

“ In Ex parte Wells, [3] convicted of murder, and whose sentence was commuted by the President to imprisonment for life, a habeas corpus was issued by the Circuit Court. On the return, the position taken by the prisoner that the pardon was absolute and the condition void, was overruled. The writ was dismissed and the prisoner remanded. On application to this court for habeas corpus to reverse this proceeding, all the judges, but Curtis and Campbell, JJ., maintained the jurisdiction. Curtis, J., refers to his denial of the jurisdiction in Kaine's case. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Salmon P. Chase, Ex parte Yerger — Opinion of the Court

“ It was carried through both houses, sent to the President, returned with his objections, repassed by the constitutional majority in each house, and became a law on the 27th of March, within eighteen days after the conclusion of the argument. ”

Salmon P. Chase

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Quotes from Ex parte Yerger — Opinion of the Court (Salmon P. Chase)

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