They approached the most powerful judge, Lord Mansfield, who was chief judge of the court of King's Bench, and they demanded that he issue a common law writ of habeus corpus on behalf of James Somerset.
Dirigiram-se ao juiz mais poderoso, Lord Mansfield, que era o juiz-chefe do tribunal de King's Bench, e exigiram que emitisse um mandado de "habeas corpus" a favor de James Somerset.