#otd in 1871, Pres. US Grant suspended the writ of habeas corpus in 9 South Carolina counties to break up the Ku Klux Klan.
The Klan's "unlawful combinations and conspiracies," Grant declared, amounted to "rebellion against...the United States."
presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/proc…
The Klan's "unlawful combinations and conspiracies," Grant declared, amounted to "rebellion against...the United States."
presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/proc…
Suspending the writ - an act authorized by the April 1871 Ku Klux Act - would allow the mass arrest and detention of Klansmen.
5 days earlier, Grant had ordered terrorists to turn in their weapons and disguises and "retire peaceably to their homes."
5 days earlier, Grant had ordered terrorists to turn in their weapons and disguises and "retire peaceably to their homes."
https://twitter.com/Stephen_A_West/status/1447896528232845313?s=20
US Attorney General Amos Akerman traveled to SC to investigate.
Klansmen had committed thousands of acts of criminal violence over the last year, he reported. Most white residents were in active cooperation with Klan, or at least offered it their "sympathy and countenance."
Klansmen had committed thousands of acts of criminal violence over the last year, he reported. Most white residents were in active cooperation with Klan, or at least offered it their "sympathy and countenance."
The presence of federal troops had led to "some abatement" in Klan terrorism, Akerman wrote.
"But the organizations and discipline are industriously kept up." If the US government did not uproot the Klan, "no freedman will enjoy essential liberty."
msstate.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collec…
"But the organizations and discipline are industriously kept up." If the US government did not uproot the Klan, "no freedman will enjoy essential liberty."
msstate.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collec…
100s of arrests followed, carried out by US troops & marshals. Some Klansmen surrendered. Others fled to Texas, Canada, and elsewhere.
US officials now faced a challenge that will sound familiar in 2021:
What to do with a volume of cases that would overwhelm federal courts?
US officials now faced a challenge that will sound familiar in 2021:
What to do with a volume of cases that would overwhelm federal courts?
US grand juries returned over 1300 Klan indictments in S. Carolina.
By Jan. 1873, federal courts tried 35 cases and accepted guilty pleas in 71 others. Almost 1200 still waited.
Prosecutors could try only "cases...of the worst class, in which one or more murders are charged."
By Jan. 1873, federal courts tried 35 cases and accepted guilty pleas in 71 others. Almost 1200 still waited.
Prosecutors could try only "cases...of the worst class, in which one or more murders are charged."
Oh, and this part may sound familiar too:
Politicians and press sympathetic to the Klan expressed outrage over the treatment of convicted terrorists - and little concern for the Klan's victims.
Politicians and press sympathetic to the Klan expressed outrage over the treatment of convicted terrorists - and little concern for the Klan's victims.
https://twitter.com/Stephen_A_West/status/1420899263677145093?s=20
Ultimately, most of the remaining indictments against Klansmen were dropped.
So we're left with a question that—again!—resonates after Jan. 6:
Was this use of federal law enforcement against "insurgents engaged in...unlawful combinations and conspiracies" a failure or success?
So we're left with a question that—again!—resonates after Jan. 6:
Was this use of federal law enforcement against "insurgents engaged in...unlawful combinations and conspiracies" a failure or success?
Securing only a few dozen convictions certainly looks like a failure.
But the arrest and detention of 100s of Klansmen—and flight of many others—temporarily suppressed terrorism in South Carolina, and the 1872 election passed off in relative peace. A success.
But the arrest and detention of 100s of Klansmen—and flight of many others—temporarily suppressed terrorism in South Carolina, and the 1872 election passed off in relative peace. A success.
That success depended on suspending the writ of habeas corpus.
But when Grant's authority to do so expired in mid-1872, Congress refused to renew it.
The result was to weaken his power to respond to renewed terrorism—in La. in 1873, in Ala. in 1874. The list when went on.
But when Grant's authority to do so expired in mid-1872, Congress refused to renew it.
The result was to weaken his power to respond to renewed terrorism—in La. in 1873, in Ala. in 1874. The list when went on.
The ultimate failure, in other words, was not so much of the courts as of the political branches.
Which is the lesson for today:
Don't try to treat an insurrection—what Grant called a "rebellion"—as simply a law enforcement problem, and leave the courts to sort it out. /fin
Which is the lesson for today:
Don't try to treat an insurrection—what Grant called a "rebellion"—as simply a law enforcement problem, and leave the courts to sort it out. /fin
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