Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.

“ If it was the right and duty of the state court to determine by its final order whether the accused was constitutionally deprived of his liberty or was subjected to involuntary servitude or labor, not in punishment for crime, but really in liquidation of a debt, it is then the right, and, I think, the duty, of this court, upon the present writ of error, regularly brought by the accused, to re-examine that judgment, and decide the question whether he is deprived of his liberty in violation of the Constitution or laws of the United States. ”

“ The presumption is said to be artificial, and not drawn from the facts of life. When coupled with the local rule that the party cannot testify to his actual intent, it is said practically to make a crime out of a mere departure from service, which, it is said, and it seems to have been conceded by the supreme court of Alabama, could not be done. ”

“ Rep. 455, and the authorities there cited. But whether the accused, in seeking his discharge by the state court, adopted a mode of procedure authorized by the local law, was for the Alabama courts, not for this court, to determine. The state court recognized the proceeding by habeas corpus to be in accordance with the local law; for the supreme court of Alabama, without even intimating that the accused took a 'short cut,' or pursued the wrong method to obtain his discharge, entertained his appeal and passed upon the constitutionality of the statute under which he was held in custody. ”