Quotes About Writs

MAY it please your Honors: I was desired by one of the court to look into the books, and consider the question now before them concerning Writs of Assistance.

Alvan Stewart, a prolific writer and speaker against slavery from New York, developed the argument that the Constitution's Fifth Amendment, which barred depriving any person of "life, liberty, or property" without due process of law, made slavery unconstitutional. Slaves, said Stewart, should go to court and obtain writs of habeas corpus ordering their release from bondage.