Holmes, H. T.

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Defender of the Faith, The High Court of Mississippi, 1817-1875 by Meredith Lang

Mississippi College School of Law

Mississippi College Law Review Volume 1 Issue 1 Article 18 6-1-1978 Defender of the Faith, The High Court of Mississippi, 1817-1875 by Meredith Lang H. T. Holmes Follow this and additional works at: https://dc.law.mc.edu/lawreview Custom Citation 1 Miss. C. L. Rev. 109 (1978-1980) This Book Review is brought to you for free and open access by MC Law Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Mississippi College Law Review by an authorized editor of MC Law Digital Commons. For more information, please contact walter@mc.edu. BOOK REVIEWDefender of the Faith: The High Court of Mississippi, 1817-1875. ByMeredith Lang. * Jackson, Mississippi: University Press of Mississip-pi, 1977. Pp. vii, 176. $10.00.Reviewed by H. T. Holmes**The role exercised by a state appellate court in shaping and mirror-ing the growth of social structure and attitude is described in MeredithLang's Defender of the Faith: The High Court of Mississippi,1817-1875. In recounting the history of the High Court of Mississip-pi, Dr. Lang provides a contemplative account of the manner in whichMississippi's highest appellate court from 1817 to 1860 played its rolein the developing constitutional crisis that resulted in civil war. Forthe general reader of Mississippi History, the role of the Mississippijudiciary in shaping anti-unionist sentiment in the state prior to 1860has been ignored for the more dramatic utterances made by the state'spoliticians of the time; it is good to be reminded of the significant rolethat the High Court of Mississippi played in the development ofMississippi political philosophy in the nineteenth century.The makeup of the High Court varied during this time accordingto the constitution then in force. Under the Constitution of 1817, thejudicial power of the state was vested in one Supreme Court and suchsuperior and inferior courts of law and equity as the legislature mayfrom time to time direct. The Constitution of 1832 changed theSupreme Court to the High Court of Errors and Appeals, composedof three judges serving staggered six year terms. The High Court con-vened twice each year at a place directed by the legislature until 1836,after which it met at the seat of government. The Constitution of1861 made no change in the High Court, and the Constitution of 1865was merely a restoration of the 1832 Constitution with requiredamendments. The 1869 Constitution changed the name back toSupreme Court and directed that it consist of three judges appointedby the governor for nine year terms.Lang's review of the history of this court is not a detailed account-ing, but a selective scholarly review of certain issues the court address-ed itself to throughout the period. It is Lang's contention that thetenor of the court's philosophy can be illustrated by judicial action inthese areas: federal-state relations, contracts, criminal justice andmanumission. The study is concluded with a description of thejudicial chaos following the union victory of 1865 and of the court'sultimate turn-around in philosophy.*Professor, New York Law School. B.A. Ohio State, 1926; M.A. Radcliffe, 1950;J.D. Georgetown, 1960; Ph.D. Harvard (under name of Irma M. Lang), 1972."Historian, Mississippi Department of Archives and History.MISSISSIPPI COLLEGE LAW REVIEW [Vol. 1:109Basic to this study is the contention that the High Court sought atall times to balance its adjudication between the national creed and thebasic beliefs of Mississippi society. In much of the adjudication,slavery was the central issue, whether it was a point in litigation ornot. In her study of the High Court's approach to a philosophy ofgovernment, Lang recites the case histories that led to the ultimateposition taken by the court, reflected by the secession of Mississippifrom the Union in 1861, that the people's sovereign will rested in thestate, and the state, therefore, had the power to abolish its compactwith the other states. Evidence of popular and political support forthis position is presented through the statements and positions of con-temporary political leaders, among them, John C. Calhoun, JeffersonDavis and John A. Quitman.In her discussion of the High Court's approach to contract law,Lang finds an interesting stand-off between the Mississippi HighCourt and the United States Supreme Court. Indeed, one of thefascinating aspects of this study is the unyielding stance the HighCourt often took in relation to Supreme Court decisions. Langgenerously illustrates the manner and method by which the HighCourt subverted the decrees of the United States Supreme Court.A positive picture is painted of the High Court prior to the periodof the war in the area of criminal justice, and Lang has fine praise forthe court's rulings in this area:The High Court of Mississippi maintained in the area of criminallaw such a dignity of stance and nobility of spirit that the ante-bellumcourt seems to emerge as a knighted institution in search of the HolyGrail of justice .... Unaided by any national criteria for measuring thespecific content of justice or the elements of a fair trial, the MississippiHigh Court found its answer after searching its own conscience and ex-ploring the primary value of individual human dignity upon which thenation was founded. It was truly a court for all times.Unfortunately, such a lofty sentiment does not hold true for allareas into which the court delved, and, Lang asserts, manumissionwas the nadir of the court's respectability. The court's attitudetoward slavery and manumission, though somewhat soft in the veryearly years, quickly hardened into a stern attitude that remained theofficial position for most of its years. This attitude so infected thethinking of the court that, by 1859, Lang says, "Any emancipation ac-commodation was anathema, and the explosive character of the HighCourt's response merely testified to the loathsomeness of the idea inthe minds of three men who had ceased deporting themselves likejustices."It is in the discussion of the High Court and manumission that therelationship between justice and public demand is especiallyhighlighted. Unfortunately, Lang poses more questions than sheBOOK REVIEWanswers about the shaping role that the judiciary actually played indeveloping and strengthening the political philosophy of Mississippias it was espoused by political leaders of the time. Without delvinginto the personalities of the justices, Lang illustrates well the hair-lineinterpretations the court found itself making in its attempt to protectthe Mississippi social structure and yet maintain its dignity as a highcourt.A brief glance is given to the status and function of the court in thepost war era through 1875. Here Lang suggests the principal activitiesof the court were determining the status of state laws passed duringthe Confederacy and interpreting Mississippi's post war relationshipto the federal union. Gone were the days of the court's magnificenceand high-mindedness; the court focused its attention on the re-establishment of Mississippi out of its political ruins.In the concluding chapter of this study, Lang offers some after-thoughts on the material she has presented, posing some "What if?"questions and finding that her basic premise still holds, i.e., "the highcourt was a legal-political institution functioning in a philosophicallydeviant state." It is only in this last chapter that Dr. Lang begins tomention justices by name and to speculate on the influence of personalphilosophy on the court's decisions. Although Dr. Lang makes a suc-cessful presentation of her theses based almost entirely on case study,the question begs to be asked if her work would not have beenstronger had she devoted some of her explication to the persons andpersonalities that occupied the seats on the High Court from 1817 to1875.Regardless, Dr. Lang is to be commended for her study on thehistory of Mississippi appellate court; she has done a fine job in point-ing out the role of the judiciary in the developing constitutional crisisof the first half of the nineteenth century. It is to be hoped that thejudicial role in the shaping of the social-political climate of Mississippiwill be further analyzed and delineated using Defender of the Faith asthe starting point.1978]

Mississippi College Law Review Volume 1 Issue 1 Article 9 6-1-1978 Defender of the Faith, The High Court of Mississippi, 1817-1875 by Meredith Lang H. T. Holmes Follow this and additional works at: https://dc.law.mc.edu/lawreview  Part of the Law Commons Custom Citation 1 Miss. C. L. Rev. 109 (1978-1980) This Article is brought to you for free and open access by MC Law Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Mississippi College Law Review by an authorized editor of MC Law Digital Commons. For more information, please contact walter@mc.edu. BOOK REVIEWDefender of the Faith: The High Court of Mississippi, 1817-1875. ByMeredith Lang. * Jackson, Mississippi: University Press of Mississip-pi, 1977. Pp. vii, 176. $10.00.Reviewed by H. T. Holmes**The role exercised by a state appellate court in shaping and mirror-ing the growth of social structure and attitude is described in MeredithLang's Defender of the Faith: The High Court of Mississippi,1817-1875. In recounting the history of the High Court of Mississip-pi, Dr. Lang provides a contemplative account of the manner in whichMississippi's highest appellate court from 1817 to 1860 played its rolein the developing constitutional crisis that resulted in civil war. Forthe general reader of Mississippi History, the role of the Mississippijudiciary in shaping anti-unionist sentiment in the state prior to 1860has been ignored for the more dramatic utterances made by the state'spoliticians of the time; it is good to be reminded of the significant rolethat the High Court of Mississippi played in the development ofMississippi political philosophy in the nineteenth century.The makeup of the High Court varied during this time accordingto the constitution then in force. Under the Constitution of 1817, thejudicial power of the state was vested in one Supreme Court and suchsuperior and inferior courts of law and equity as the legislature mayfrom time to time direct. The Constitution of 1832 changed theSupreme Court to the High Court of Errors and Appeals, composedof three judges serving staggered six year terms. The High Court con-vened twice each year at a place directed by the legislature until 1836,after which it met at the seat of government. The Constitution of1861 made no change in the High Court, and the Constitution of 1865was merely a restoration of the 1832 Constitution with requiredamendments. The 1869 Constitution changed the name back toSupreme Court and directed that it consist of three judges appointedby the governor for nine year terms.Lang's review of the history of this court is not a detailed account-ing, but a selective scholarly review of certain issues the court address-ed itself to throughout the period. It is Lang's contention that thetenor of the court's philosophy can be illustrated by judicial action inthese areas: federal-state relations, contracts, criminal justice andmanumission. The study is concluded with a description of thejudicial chaos following the union victory of 1865 and of the court'sultimate turn-around in philosophy.*Professor, New York Law School. B.A. Ohio State, 1926; M.A. Radcliffe, 1950;J.D. Georgetown, 1960; Ph.D. Harvard (under name of Irma M. Lang), 1972."Historian, Mississippi Department of Archives and History.MISSISSIPPI COLLEGE LAW REVIEW [Vol. 1:109Basic to this study is the contention that the High Court sought atall times to balance its adjudication between the national creed and thebasic beliefs of Mississippi society. In much of the adjudication,slavery was the central issue, whether it was a point in litigation ornot. In her study of the High Court's approach to a philosophy ofgovernment, Lang recites the case histories that led to the ultimateposition taken by the court, reflected by the secession of Mississippifrom the Union in 1861, that the people's sovereign will rested in thestate, and the state, therefore, had the power to abolish its compactwith the other states. Evidence of popular and political support forthis position is presented through the statements and positions of con-temporary political leaders, among them, John C. Calhoun, JeffersonDavis and John A. Quitman.In her discussion of the High Court's approach to contract law,Lang finds an interesting stand-off between the Mississippi HighCourt and the United States Supreme Court. Indeed, one of thefascinating aspects of this study is the unyielding stance the HighCourt often took in relation to Supreme Court decisions. Langgenerously illustrates the manner and method by which the HighCourt subverted the decrees of the United States Supreme Court.A positive picture is painted of the High Court prior to the periodof the war in the area of criminal justice, and Lang has fine praise forthe court's rulings in this area:The High Court of Mississippi maintained in the area of criminallaw such a dignity of stance and nobility of spirit that the ante-bellumcourt seems to emerge as a knighted institution in search of the HolyGrail of justice .... Unaided by any national criteria for measuring thespecific content of justice or the elements of a fair trial, the MississippiHigh Court found its answer after searching its own conscience and ex-ploring the primary value of individual human dignity upon which thenation was founded. It was truly a court for all times.Unfortunately, such a lofty sentiment does not hold true for allareas into which the court delved, and, Lang asserts, manumissionwas the nadir of the court's respectability. The court's attitudetoward slavery and manumission, though somewhat soft in the veryearly years, quickly hardened into a stern attitude that remained theofficial position for most of its years. This attitude so infected thethinking of the court that, by 1859, Lang says, "Any emancipation ac-commodation was anathema, and the explosive character of the HighCourt's response merely testified to the loathsomeness of the idea inthe minds of three men who had ceased deporting themselves likejustices."It is in the discussion of the High Court and manumission that therelationship between justice and public demand is especiallyhighlighted. Unfortunately, Lang poses more questions than sheBOOK REVIEWanswers about the shaping role that the judiciary actually played indeveloping and strengthening the political philosophy of Mississippias it was espoused by political leaders of the time. Without delvinginto the personalities of the justices, Lang illustrates well the hair-lineinterpretations the court found itself making in its attempt to protectthe Mississippi social structure and yet maintain its dignity as a highcourt.A brief glance is given to the status and function of the court in thepost war era through 1875. Here Lang suggests the principal activitiesof the court were determining the status of state laws passed duringthe Confederacy and interpreting Mississippi's post war relationshipto the federal union. Gone were the days of the court's magnificenceand high-mindedness; the court focused its attention on the re-establishment of Mississippi out of its political ruins.In the concluding chapter of this study, Lang offers some after-thoughts on the material she has presented, posing some "What if?"questions and finding that her basic premise still holds, i.e., "the highcourt was a legal-political institution functioning in a philosophicallydeviant state." It is only in this last chapter that Dr. Lang begins tomention justices by name and to speculate on the influence of personalphilosophy on the court's decisions. Although Dr. Lang makes a suc-cessful presentation of her theses based almost entirely on case study,the question begs to be asked if her work would not have beenstronger had she devoted some of her explication to the persons andpersonalities that occupied the seats on the High Court from 1817 to1875.Regardless, Dr. Lang is to be commended for her study on thehistory of Mississippi appellate court; she has done a fine job in point-ing out the role of the judiciary in the developing constitutional crisisof the first half of the nineteenth century. It is to be hoped that thejudicial role in the shaping of the social-political climate of Mississippiwill be further analyzed and delineated using Defender of the Faith asthe starting point.1978]

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Defender of the Faith, The High Court of Mississippi, 1817-1875 by Meredith Lang

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