The Civil War and Industrialization Eras, 1850s-1900

During the Civil War, the reform efforts of the early 1800s grinded to a standstill as the Nation faced the struggles of protracted war. The criminal court system endured a shameful period of terrible decision-making during this era.  The Supreme Court’s decisions in Scott v. Sanford (“the Dred Scott Decision”); its failure to take action to abolish slavery through common law; and the confusion surrounding President Lincoln’s suspension of the writ of habeas corpus (Ex Parte Milligan, 1863) cast an ugly shadow over the entire judicial system. Although the Supreme Court and the inferior courts survived despite the bad decisions, the seeds of distrust of judicial decisions were planted, and it would be decades before the courts regained the respect of the people.

One practical change that occurred was the emergence of guilty pleas and plea bargaining. Until 1883, defendants could not plead guilty and certainly could not enter into plea negotiations. Remember, back then, many crimes were punishable by death. So if you pleaded guilty, you were essentially committing suicide! In the decades that followed, the death penalty was used less and guilty pleas became common place It also started to become more common for people to try to get a plea bargain.