Ex parte << ehks PAHR tee >> Milligan was a legal case in which the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that civilians cannot be tried by military courts if civil courts are available. This ruling, made in 1866, was one of the most important in the history of American civil liberties. It defined the limits of military power over civilians in wartime.
During the American Civil War (1861-1865), a military court in Indiana convicted Lambdin Milligan of cooperating with Confederate forces. Milligan appealed to the Supreme Court to determine if he was being justly imprisoned. The Supreme Court ruled unanimously that the military court, authorized by the President, was illegal because civil courts were open nearby. Milligan was freed from prison. The Supreme Court also ruled, by a 5 to 4 majority, that if civil courts are open, not even Congress can create military courts to try civilians.
