Timeline supplement:
September 19th, 1839 -- United States Circuit Court Proceedings
Exactly why the Amistad case went to the Circuit Court at the outset, rather than going directly before the District Court, remains a matter of some confusion to legal scholars and historians. The libel of Lt. Thomas R. Gedney went directly to the docket of the District Court, and was not even a consideration here. What, then, was the point of these proceedings? Two important legal matters were decided upon by Justice Thompson in the initial Circuit Court hearings. These had to be decided before the District Court trial could begin.
It had to be ascertained if there was enough evidence to indict the Africans for piracy and murder in the United States. A grand jury, by law, would decide this. If an indictment could be granted the trial against the Africans would be a criminal matter, and not one involving property and salvage rights. Also, a writ of habeas corpus for the three little girls and boy, filed by the Africans defense, had to be decided upon. The writ questioned the lawfulness of the imprisonment of the children. The other Africans were being detained to await the decision on the indictment, but also because they were considered part of the cargo of the Amistad. Although the children were claimed as property, they were not considered mutineers and so, on these charges, the defense saw no reason for them to be imprisoned.
Justice Thompson settled both issues on September 23rd, 1839. He dismissed the grand jury, ruling American courts did not have jurisdiction in this case. He noted the alleged crimes occurred on a Spanish vessel, operated by a Spanish captain, under a Spanish flag, and against Spanish individuals. Because of these facts, only Spanish courts could bring criminal proceedings against the Africans. In the matter of the habeas corpus writ Thompson ruled that he could not release the children because to do so would be to interfere with the District Court proceedings, where claims for the Africans as property were to be heard.
Thompson refused to directly address whether the Africans were property or free human beings, but his decisions were enough to make his stance clear. In order to be indicted as a criminal, one has to be considered a human being with a will of one's own. Undoubtedly, Thompson was aware of this distinction and knew ruling on such a question would upset all future court proceedings. He refused to release the children only because it would interfere with the District Court, where the Africans were blatantly considered a part of the Amistad cargo. Since the girls were not listed for indictment, the only thing keeping them in prison was their status as property. Releasing them would mean such a status was invalid; a precedent that could then be applied to the other Africans as well. In deciding on these issues the way he did, Justice Thompson backhandedly confirmed the Africans' status in the American legal system as property, and not people.
Adam Kessler
