Ex parte Bollman

Ex parte Bollman, 8 U.S. (4 Cranch) 75 (1807), was a case brought before the United States Supreme Court. Bollman held that the constitutional definition of treason excluded mere conspiracy to levy war against the United States.[1]

Ex parte Bollman
Supreme Court of the United States
Decided February 20, 1807
Full case name	Ex parte Erick Bollman and Ex parte Samuel Swartwout
Citations	8 U.S. 75 (more) 4 Cranch 75; 2 L. Ed. 554; 1807 U.S. LEXIS 369
Case history
Prior	United States v. Bollman, 24 F. Cas. 1189 (C.C.D.C. 1807) (No. 14,622)
Subsequent	None
Holding
The petitioners' alleged conspiracy did not rise to the level of treason as defined by the Constitution.
Court membership
Chief Justice John Marshall Associate Justices William Cushing · Samuel Chase Bushrod Washington · William Johnson H. Brockholst Livingston
Case opinions
Majority	Marshall, joined by Cushing, Chase, Washington, Livingston
Dissent	Johnson
Laws applied
U.S. Const. art. I, III, amends. IV, VI; Judiciary Act of 1789

Erick Bollman and Samuel Swartwout were civilians who became implicated in the Burr-Wilkinson Plot. This plot supposedly consisted of Aaron Burr and James Wilkinson attempting to create an empire in the United States, ruled by Burr. In 1806, Wilkinson informed President Thomas Jefferson of the plot, ending whatever may have actually been planned. Bollman and Swartwout attempted to recruit others into the plot, but these individuals informed the military, which promptly arrested them.

The Supreme Court decided that "To constitute a levying of war, there must be an assemblage of persons for the purpose of effecting by force a treasonable purpose. Enlistments of men to serve against government is not sufficient."[1]^: 132