Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2011
Keywords
Civil war, treason, habeas corpus, enemy combatants, Baltimore, legal history, constitutional law
Abstract
The experience of the Baltimore Police Commissioners is instructive in understanding the state of affairs in Baltimore during the Civil War era. The removal of the commissioners by the Union Army and the subsequent civil trial, The Mayor and City Council of Baltimore v. Charles Howard, provides a window through which one may examine the historical, legal and political circumstances of the time. The legal status of the commissioners also sheds light on modern legal doctrine related to the detention of American citizens as “enemy combatants” without the benefit of certain constitutional guarantees. By analyzing the Howard case with a critical eye, this article will uncover the underlying motivations behind the litigation while clarifying the chaotic events in Baltimore during the Civil War.
Disciplines
Constitutional Law | Legal History | United States History
Digital Commons Citation
Kent, Matthew, ""Displaced by a force to which they yielded and could not resist": A Historical and Legal Analysis of Mayor and City Counsel of Baltimore v. Charles Howard et. al" (2011). Legal History Publications. 27.
https://digitalcommons.law.umaryland.edu/mlh_pubs/27