Mississippi v. Johnson

Mississippi v. Johnson, 71 U.S. (4 Wall.) 475 (1867), was the first suit to be brought against a President of the United States in the United States Supreme Court. The state of Mississippi attempted to sue President Andrew Johnson for enforcing the Reconstruction Acts. The court decided, based on a previous decision of Marbury v. Madison that the President has two kinds of tasks: ministerial and discretionary. Discretionary tasks are ones the president can choose to do or not to do, while ministerial tasks are ones required by his office: those whose failure to perform could leave him in violation of the Constitution. The court ruled that by enforcing Reconstruction, Johnson was acting in an "executive and political" capacity—a discretionary rather than a ministerial one—and so he could not be sued.

Mississippi v. Johnson
Supreme Court of the United States
Argued April 12, 1867 Decided April 15, 1867
Full case name	The State of Mississippi v. Andrew Johnson, President of the United States
Citations	71 U.S. 475 (more) 4 Wall. 475; 18 L. Ed. 437
Holding
In the course of his enforcement of the Reconstruction Acts, President Johnson was necessarily exercising discretion and so could not be sued.
Court membership
Chief Justice Salmon P. Chase Associate Justices James M. Wayne · Samuel Nelson Robert C. Grier · Nathan Clifford Noah H. Swayne · Samuel F. Miller David Davis · Stephen J. Field
Case opinion
Majority	Chase, joined by unanimous

See also

• List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 71
• United States v. Nixon (1974)

Further reading

• Bell, Lauren Cohen (2004). "Following the Leaders or Leading the Followers? The US President's Relations with Congress". Journal of Legislative Studies. 10 (2/3): 193–205. doi:10.1080/1357233042000322300. S2CID 145085372.
• Kauper, Paul G. (1952). "The Steel Seizure Case: Congress, the President and the Supreme Court". Michigan Law Review. 51 (2). Michigan Law Review, Vol. 51, No. 2: 141–182. doi:10.2307/1285714. JSTOR 1285714.
• Kutler, Stanley I. (1968). Judicial Power and Reconstruction Politics. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

External links

• Works related to Mississippi v. Johnson at Wikisource
• Text of Mississippi v. Johnson, 71 U.S. (4 Wall.) 475 (1867) is available from: Findlaw Justia Library of Congress OpenJurist