One day after Sumner left Washington, Judge Thomas H. Crawford of the Circuit Court of the District of Columbia found Preston Brooks guilty of assault for the caning of Charles Sumner and sentenced Brooks to a fine of three hundred dollars. Brooks paid the fine and walked out of court—later, his supporters in the South raised the money to reimburse him. Sumner supporters were incensed, claiming the “paltry fine” clearly showed the proslavery temperament of the federal courts in the District of Columbia.
