stylistic:tone, information:filtering, quality:corruption, structural:reformatting, structural:expansion
Decision

In Ex parte Milligan, which was a case about governmental power and personal liberty, the Court's decision stood "on the side of personal liberty." In the case, the Court was unwilling to give President Lincoln's administration the power of military commission jurisdiction. The Court's decision avoided the risk of its abuse by future administrations in other situations. It is also important to note the political environment of the decision. Under a Republican Congress immediately after the Civil War, the Court was reluctant to hand down any decision that questioned the legitimacy of military courts, especially in the occupied South. The president's ability to suspend the writ of habeas corpus without congressional approval was not addressed in this case, most likely because it was a moot issue with respect to the case at hand. President Lincoln had suspended the writ nationwide on September 24, 1862, and Congress had ratified this action on March 3, 1863, with the Habeas Corpus Suspension Act. Milligan was detained in October 1864, more than a year after Congress formally suspended the writ.