Cummings v. Missouri

law case

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June 25, 2026

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The case of Cummings v. Missouri (1867) dealt with the concept of a bill of attainder. A bill of attainder is a legislative act that imposes punishment without a trial. Historically, attainder in English law meant the loss of civil and political rights after a conviction for treason or felony.12

In Cummings v. Missouri, the U.S. Supreme Court applied the constitutional prohibition against bills of attainder to strike down loyalty oaths. These oaths were imposed after the American Civil War to prevent Confederate sympathizers from practicing certain professions. The Court found these oaths to be a form of legislative punishment without a trial, similar to an ex post facto law, which declares an action criminal after it has already occurred.23

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ex post facto law
In 1867, in Cummings v. Missouri and Ex parte Garland, the United States Supreme Court condemned as both bills of attainder and ex post facto laws the passage of post-American Civil War loyalty-test oaths, which were designed to keep Confederate sympathizers from practicing certain professions.
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In 1867, in Cummings v. Missouri and Ex parte Garland, the United States Supreme Court condemned as both bills of attainder and ex post facto laws the passage of post-American Civil War loyalty-test oaths, which were designed to keep Confederate sympathizers from practicing certain professions.
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Salmon P. Chase
…when the court invalidated, in Cummings v. Missouri and Ex parte Garland (both 1867), state and federal loyalty oaths prerequisite to the practice of learned professions. In various cases in 1872–73 (near the end of his life), in a court whose majority narrowly construed the postwar Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments…
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…when the court invalidated, in Cummings v. Missouri and Ex parte Garland (both 1867), state and federal loyalty oaths prerequisite to the practice of learned professions. In various cases in 1872–73 (near the end of his life), in a court whose majority narrowly construed the postwar Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments…
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attainder
…these clauses in 1867 in Cummings v. Missouri and Ex parte Garland to strike down loyalty oaths passed after the American Civil War to disqualify Confederate sympathizers from practicing certain professions. Similarly, in United States v. Lovett (1946), the court invalidated as a bill of attainder a section of an…
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…these clauses in 1867 in Cummings v. Missouri and Ex parte Garland to strike down loyalty oaths passed after the American Civil War to disqualify Confederate sympathizers from practicing certain professions. Similarly, in United States v. Lovett (1946), the court invalidated as a bill of attainder a section of an…
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