Somerton v Stewart: Those pesky judges

Liberty bell strikes in 1772

SOMERSET v STEWART: THOSE PESKY JUDGES….

The facts of the case:

James Somerset, an enslaved man who escaped from his “master” on return to England, was recaptured and imprisoned on a ship with a view to him being removed from the country and sent to Jamaica for sale. Under the long standing legal principle of Habeas Corpus, no person may have their freedo…