Ex Parte McCardle

Petitioner

United States

Respondent

William H. McCardle

Petitioner's Claim

That McCardle had incited insurrection and impeded post-Civil War Reconstruction.

Chief Lawyers for Petitioner

Matthew H. Carpenter, Lyman Trumbull

Chief Lawyers for Respondent

Jeremiah S. Black, David Dudley Field, Charles O'Conor, W. L. Sharkey, Robert J. Walker

Justices for the Court

Salmon Portland Chase (writing for the Court), Nathan Clifford, David Davis, Robert Cooper Grier, Stephen Johnson Field, Samuel Freeman Miller, Samuel Nelson, Noah Haynes Swayne

Justices Dissenting

None

Place

Washington, D.C.

Date of Decision

12 April 1869

Decision

That the Supreme Court was without jurisdiction to render a decision, because Congress had repealed certain appeals legislation.

Related Cases

• Toth v. Quarles, 350 U.S. 11 (1955).
• Westmoreland v. CBS, 770 F. 2d 1168 (1984).

Sources

Hurwitz, Howard L. An Encyclopedic Dictionary of American History, New York: Washington Square Press, 1974.

Further Readings

• Franklin, John Hope. Reconstruction: After the Civil War. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1961.
• Morris, Richard B. Encyclopedia of American History. New York: Harper & Row, 1982.
• Tortora, Anthony. "Ex parte McCardle." National Review, September 19, 1980, pp. 1140-1141, 1157.
• Trefousse, Hans L. Historical Dictionary of Reconstruction. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1991.