Augustus Hill Garland - Ex Parte Garland

Ex Parte Garland

At the end of the Civil War, Garland was pardoned by President Andrew Johnson on July 15, 1865. Despite this pardon, he was prohibited from practicing law due to a provision passed by the United States Congress on January 24, 1865, stripping the law licenses of all lawyers who worked with the Confederate government or military. Garland became the petitioner in the case of Ex parte Garland in which he made the argument that it was unconstitutional and a violation of ex post facto. On January 14, 1867, by a vote of five to four, the Court agreed. The ruling caused considerable uproar in the north, but gave hope that the judicial system could be used to prevent the implementation of the Reconstruction Act that had recently been passed by Congress. He then pushed the Supreme Court to hear the case of Mississippi v. Johnson which challenged the constitutionality of those acts, however the Court refused.