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Cummings v. Missouri, 71 U.S. 277, 1866 WL 9452, 18 L.Ed. 356, 4 Wall. 277

Facts

In January 1865, a convention in Missouri adopted a new constitution that included a test oath requiring individuals to affirm they had never engaged in disloyal acts against the United States. Reverend Cummings, a Catholic priest, was indicted and convicted in September 1865 for preaching without having taken this oath. He was sentenced to a fine and jail time, and his conviction was upheld by the Missouri Supreme Court, leading to an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

In September, A.D. 1865, after the adoption of this constitution, the Reverend Mr. Cummings, a priest of the Roman Catholic Church, was indicted and convicted in the Circuit Court of Pike County, in the State of Missouri, of the crime of teaching and preaching in that month, as a priest and minister of that religious denomination, without having first taken the oath prescribed by the constitution of the State.

Issue

The main legal issue was whether the test oath required by the Missouri Constitution constituted a bill of attainder or an ex post facto law, thus violating the U.S. Constitution.

The question is not as to the existence of the power of the State over matters of internal police, but whether that power has been made in the present case an instrument for the infliction of punishment against the inhibition of the Constitution.

Rule

The Court ruled that a law imposing punishment for past conduct that was not punishable at the time it was committed is unconstitutional under the U.S. Constitution, which prohibits ex post facto laws and bills of attainder.

The disabilities created by the constitution of Missouri must be regarded as penalties—they constitute punishment.

Analysis

The Court analyzed the provisions of the Missouri Constitution and determined that the test oath effectively punished individuals for past actions, which were not offenses at the time they were committed. The Court emphasized that the oath's requirements were retrospective and imposed disqualifications that served as penalties rather than legitimate qualifications for office or profession.

It was required in order to reach the person, not the calling. It was exacted, not from any notion that the several acts designated indicated unfitness for the callings, but because it was thought that the several acts deserved punishment.

Conclusion

The Supreme Court concluded that the test oath violated the U.S. Constitution by imposing punishment for past conduct, thus ruling in favor of Reverend Cummings and reversing the conviction.

The deprivation is punishment; nor is it any less so because a way is opened for escape from it by the expurgatory oath.

Who won?

Reverend Cummings prevailed in the case because the Supreme Court found that the Missouri test oath imposed unconstitutional penalties for past actions.

The Supreme Court concluded that the test oath violated the U.S. Constitution by imposing punishment for past conduct, thus ruling in favor of Reverend Cummings.

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