Roger B. Taney

“ It appears by the statement in the petition, that the party has been tried, and found guilty of the crime of piracy, and sentenced to be executed by a court of the United States, possessing competent jurisdiction, and from whose judgment no appeal is allowed, by law, to this tribunal; for, in criminal cases, the proceedings and judgment of the Circuit Court cannot be revised or controlled here, in any form of proceeding, either by writ of error or prohibition, hibition, and, consequently, we have no authority to examine them by a certiorari. ”

“ But this motion asks the court to do even more than exercise an appellate power where none is given by law, for the case has now passed out of the hands of the court, and the warrant is in the hands of the marshal commanding him to execute the judgment of the court. ”