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The Penn Cases, Samuel P. Weaver

Washington Law Review

The Penn cases came at the climax of one of the most vital periods of English history The Stuart kings had denied the people many of the liberties defined by the Magna Carta and the Common Law, and additional privileges won through the centuries. James II had used every effort to repress the independence of the bar and had in fact prostituted the independence of the bench to the arbitrary prerogative of the lng. Charles II was attempting to evade the provisions of the Petition of Right, wrung from his father through the efforts of Lord Coke and other eminent …