As the United States marks in 2011 the 150-year anniversary of the start of the Civil War that so tested the nation, it must be noted that the long and bloody fight had a similar effect on the federal court system and its judges – a tearing at the very fabric of American justice.
In this fourth posting of a continuing series on how the Civil War affected the federal judiciary, we focus on U.S. District Judge Richard Field of the District of New Jersey.
A strong supporter of President Lincoln and the Lincoln administration when appointed to the federal bench in 1863, Field wasted little time in establishing that he would not flinch from hearing cases against antiwar dissidents.
“For the last two years, we have been engaged in a war, which, whether we consider its character, its causes, or the consequences which are likely to flow from it, cannot but be regarded as one of the most remarkable that the world has ever witnessed,” he stated in open court while making a charge to a grand jury. “This war must be prosecuted with vigor until the authority of the Government is respected and obeyed over every foot of territory belonging to the United States, or we must submit to ruinous and ignominious peace.”
But U.S. prosecutors did not win all their cases. Author Mark Lerner states in his 2006 book, This Honorable Court, about Fields’ court, “The record indicates that all trials followed due process: defendants had counsel, rules of proceeding were as usual, and the judge exerted no pressure for particular verdicts.”
“As eager as he was to promote support for the war effort, Field evidently did nothing overt to subvert the judicial process . . . However furious he was with those who opposed the war effort, Field never allowed anger or passion to overcome a commitment to the law or at least a grudging regard for civil liberties,” Lerner said.
Source: U.S. Court News