Anti-slavery bugle. [volume] (New-Lisbon, Ohio) 1845-1861, 1855-11-17

Commonwealth, and the disgrace Of those judicial
officers who perverted justice, and sought to es.
tablish iniquity by their interpretations Of la
Judge Blake pronounced the opinion of the Court
which was coneurred in by Judges Lewis, Wood
ward and Lowrie. The writ was refused for the
inllowlng reason, expressed in tie language OF
Judge Black
I'VE have no authority. jurisdiction or power
to decide anything here except the simple fact thnt
' the District Court Ind power to punish for con
tempt person who disobcys its process that tn,
petitioner is convicted Of such contemnt-and that
the conviction is conclusive upon u.s. The juris-
dction OF tie Court on the case which had been
oefore 1t and everything which preceded tho con-
victlon are out of reach, and thoy are not pr.
aminabic by ns--and, of course, are not now in
tended to be decided"
\ Thus it has been determined. by the highest
Judicial authority Of Pennsy lvania, that the eti
quete oi courts towards each other. is Of greater
value, and ITS maintenance of more mportancr
than the dearest rights and :he personal liberties
! OF the citizens. However unworthy or Illegally a
! Federal Judge may imprison any man or woman
/ OF this commonwealth, though his decision NAV
be the result of stupid ignorance, personal dislike
or desire for revenge, land the worlds history fur
nishes abundant proof that judges may be guilty,
OF all these, there iS redress for the outraged
citizen the officers Of the State, who were appoin-
ted by the people to protect him against such out,
rage deliberately connye with his persecutor and
even the right Of u free people to the haJeas .o,.
pus is sacrifced 10 tie eiiqucfte Of Courts,
The Court, in this case of Passmore Williamson
not only denied to him that which was his by le Gal
right but 1t stopped to insult prisoner with taunts
worthy of the judicial bench of England in the
days of James the Second. Incapable of compre.
hendinG the moral heroism and death, for the sake
| OF n prtaciple, these judges sueeringly intimate
that he is coyetous of the honors of martyrdom !.
and, them with the hearess sarcasm of an Inouis.
ltor over his tortured victim, they coolly tell hin
that he carries thu key Of his prison in his own
pocket, and can come out when he will by ma,
king terms with the Court that sent him there
The terms which he must make, are, Of course,
the disavowal of what he believes to be lie. and
Mey cannot imagine why he does NOT make them
the key which should open his prison door, is the
stain Of perjury on his soul. and they cannot i'm
aginc why ne does not use it.
From this de csion, will be remembered, with
that of Judge Kane, long after the author of both
will wish them forgotten, Judge Knox en- phatical-
ly and earnestly dissented. lie closes his yery
ably written opinion, in dissent with the following
7ecapitulation of the grounds on which he would
have awarded the writ.
'l. At common law and By our statute Of 1885,
the writ of habess corpus nd subjiciendum 10 a
writ of right, demandabe whenever a petiton in
due form asserts what, if true, would entite the
party -te- relief
2. That an allegation in petition that the Do
htioner is restrained of his liberty by order of a.
Judge or Court without jurisdiction, shows such
probable cause as to leave it longer discretionary
with the Court or Judge to whom application il
made whether the writ shall or shall not issue.
J. That where person is imprisoned by an or
der of Judge of the District Court of the United
States for refusing to answer writ of habeas cor
pus, he is entitled to be discarged from such i'm.
prisonment if the Judge of the District Court had
no authority to issue the writ.
4. That the power to issue wits of habeas cor
pus by the Judges of the Federal Courts is n mere
auxiliary power and that no such writ can DO
issued by such Judges where the cause of COM
plaint to be remedied by it is beyo d their juris-
iictiou.
s. That the Courts of the Federal Government
are Courts of limited jurisdiction, derived from
The Constitution of the United States and the acts
Of Congress under the Constitution, and that when
The Jurisdiction is not given by the Constitution or
BY Congress in pursuance of the Constitution, is
ioes not exist
G. That when it does not appear by the record
hat the Court had jurisdiction in a proceeding
inder our habeas corpus act to relieve from an
Illegal imprisonment, want of jurisdiction may be
shown by proving the facts in the case.
= That where the inquiry as to the jurisdiction
'i Court arises upon rule for II habeas corpus,
Ill the facts set forth in the petition tending to
show want of jurisdiction to be considered as
ruc unless they contradict the records.
8. That when the owner of slave voluntarily
brings slave from slave to a free State without
my intention of remaining therein the ripht of
The slave to his freedom depends upon the law oe
the State into which he is thus brought
o. That if slave so brought into free State
escapes from the custody Of his master while in
said State, the right Of the ma ster to reclaim him
IS not the question arising under the Constitution
1f the United States the laws thereof; and
therefore Judge of the United States cannot is
sue writ of habcas corpus directed to one who
! alleged withholds the possession of tho slave
rom the master, commanding him to produce the
)od of the slave before said Judge
TO- That the District Cour. of tho United States
or the Eastern District of Pennsylvania has no
Jurisdiction because controversy is between citi-
ems of different States, and that proceeding by
abeas corpus is in no legal sense controversy be-
ween private parties.
IL. That the power of the several Courts Of tho
United States to intict summary punishment for
ontempt of Court in diSobeyng writ of the Court
S expressly confined to cases of disobsdencc 10
awful wris.
"l2. That where il appears from the record that
he conviction was for disobeying writ Of habeas
corpus, which writ the Court have no Jurisdiction
o issue, the conviction is coran non judice, and
old.
For these reasons do most respectfully, but
most earnestly, dissent from the judgment Of tho
majority of my brethren refusing the writ applied
All honor should be rendered to Judge Knox,
or his fidelity TO law and the right. in opPssitioH
0 all his fellow Judges. The people will renem-
er him.;
Subsequently to the announcement Of the deeis;
IN of the Court and the dissenting opinion OF
udge Knox, Judge Iowre published his' opinion
herein he differs some points. from the dscs-
H. He says
81 have a very strong impression that no Court
justified in issuing hd6eas corpus foffthe pui~
ose of restoring a slave to his master; and that
very plainly the purpose for which the writ was
sued out of the District Court do not think
lat our writ has any such purpose. or ever had.
was Intended to secure the liberty Of the subject,
nd not to try rights of property"
"Ihave, moreover, avery strong impression that
ere is no why in which the case beforee the Die
let Judge can lie regarded. that would entitle the
ederal Judiciary to take eognizance of'h"
He proceeds to say that he had been wil}5sg; 10
rant the writ and hear the CASE but afteft tins ass
ression of nninion he entars uncri VI areurnaHtt