Melville Fuller

“ The jurisdiction of courts of the United States to issue writs of habeas corpus is limited to cases of persons alleged to be restrained of their liberty in violation of the Constitution or of some law or treaty of the United States, and cases arising under the law of nations. ”

“ The committee was acting under a resolution of the house of delegates, and in pursuance of a law of the state, giving power to committees of either house, authorized to sit during recess, to enforce obedience to summonses issued by them; and if they did not have the power they assumed to exercise, it was because the resolution or law, or both, was or were repugnant to the state Constitution, and the courts of the state are the appropriate tribunals for the vindication of the state Constitution and laws. ”