And it may well have been. But the legal proceedings were not done before the Supreme Court. let's look at the history provided in this Link. The Chief Justice passes the following order: "'In the matter of the petition of John Merryman, for a writ of habeas corpus: Ordered, this 26th day of May, A. D. 1861, that the writ of habeas corpus issue in this case, as prayed, and that the same be directed to General George Cadwalader, and be issued in the usual form, by Thomas Spicer, clerk of the circuit court of the United States in and for the district of Maryland, and that the said writ of habeas corpus be returnable at eleven o'clock, on Monday, the 27th of May 1861, at the circuit court room, in the Masonic Hall, in the city of Baltimore, before me, chief justice of the supreme court of United States. R. B. Taney." And in response, the Chief Justice's own clerk issues the following: "'District of Maryland, to wit: The United States of America, to General George Cadwalader, Greeting: You are hereby commanded to be and appear before the Honorable Roger B. Taney, chief justice of the supreme court of the United States, at the United States courtroom, in the Masonic Hall, in the city of Baltimore, on Monday, the 27th day of May 1861, at eleven o'clock in the morning, and that you have with you the body of John Merryman, of Baltimore county, and now in your custody, and that you certify and make known the day and cause of the caption and detention of the said John Merryman, and that you then and there, do, submit to, and receive whatsoever the said chief justice shall determine upon concerning you on this behalf, according to law, and have you then and there this writ. Witness, the Honorable R. B. Taney, chief justice of our supreme court, &c. Thomas Spicer, Clerk. Issued 26th May 1861."
Now if this were a matter before the Supreme Court then shouldn't it be identified as such instead of being issued in the District court? The Chief Justice ordered the writ, his Supreme Court clerk issued it, but it eminates from the District of Maryland and is heard in the district court. It was not a Supreme Court ruling or a Supreme Court decision. Constitutionally the Supreme Court had appellate jurisdiction and not original jurisdiction. Taney can't bypass the circuit court just because he wants to. His actions in issuing the writ may well have been in his role as a Supreme Court justice, they have that power. But his ruling was performed in his role as a circuit court judge.
It was filed in the District Court, not decided or issued as a District Court decision.
The Chief Justice ordered the writ, his Supreme Court clerk issued it, but it eminates from the District of Maryland and is heard in the district court. It was not a Supreme Court ruling or a Supreme Court decision. Constitutionally the Supreme Court had appellate jurisdiction and not original jurisdiction. Taney can't bypass the circuit court just because he wants to. His actions in issuing the writ may well have been in his role as a Supreme Court justice, they have that power. But his ruling was performed in his role as a circuit court judge.
The 1863 document image I posted lists it as an at chambers decision of the Chief Justice of the United States, not a Circuit Court decision. This is consistent with the Hartnett and Farber references I provided. Hartnett argues the following:
At the conclusion of the proceedings before him, Chief Justice Taney ordered "all the proceedings in this case, with my opinion, to be filed and recorded in the circuit court of the United States for the District of Maryland," an order that scarcely would have been necessary if the proceedings actually had been conducted in that Circuit Court, but which may help to explain why the case frequently has been thought of as one before that Circuit Court.
And
Swisher, supra, at 847 (noting that "at that time and for many years thereafter opinions written at chambers were not usually printed in official reports"); id. at 849 n.26 (noting that although the Federal Cases citation to Merryman refers to the Circuit Court for the District of Maryland, this "is not to be taken as an admission on the part of the Chief Justice that the case was disposed of in that court" and that "[h]e continued to treat it as a decision by the Chief Justice at chambers").
Seems Taney got his decision on the printed record as an at chambers decision of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. Thank goodness he did. It is a profound well written document, and it would have been our loss if it had not been preserved.