Fugitive Slave Act 1850
Be it enacted by the
Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress
assembled,…
SEC. 4. And be it
further enacted, That the commissioners above named shall have concurrent jurisdiction
with the judges of the circuit and district courts of the United States…and
shall grant certificates to such claimants, upon satisfactory proof being
made…with authority to take and remove such fugitives from service or labor,
under the restrictions herein contained, to the State or territory from which
such persons may have escaped or fled.
SEC. 5. And be it
further enacted, That it shall be the duty of all marshals and deputy
marshals to obey and execute all warrants and precepts issued under the
provisions of this act, when to them directed; and should any marshal or deputy
marshal refuse to receive such warrant or other process, when tendered, or to
use all proper means diligently to execute the same, he shall, on conviction
thereof, be fined in the sum of one thousand dollars to the use of such
claimant, on the motion of such claimant, by the circuit or district court for
the district of such marshal; and after arrest of such fugitive by such marshal
or his deputy, or whilst at any time in his custody, under the provisions of
this act, should such fugitive escape, whether with or without the assent of
such marshal or his deputy, such marshal shall be liable, on his official bond,
to be prosecuted, for the benefit of such claimant for the full value of the
service or labor of said fugitive in the State, Territory, or district whence
he escaped; and the better to enable the said commissioners, when thus
appointed, to execute their duties faithfully and efficiently, in conformity
with the requirements of the constitution of the United States and of this act,
they are hereby authorized and empowered, within their counties respectively,
to appoint in writing under their hands, any one or more suitable persons, from
time to time, to execute all such warrants and other process as may be issued
by them in the lawful performance of their respective duties; with an authority
to such commissioners, or the persons to be appointed by them, to execute
process as aforesaid, to summon and call to their aid the bystanders, or posse
comitatus of the proper county, when necessary to insure a faithful
observance of the clause of the constitution referred to, in conformity with
the provisions of this act: and all good citizens are hereby commanded to aid
and assist in the prompt and efficient execution of this law, whenever their
services may be required, as aforesaid, for that purpose; and said warrants
shall run and be executed by said officers anywhere in the State within which
they are issued.
SEC. 6. And be it further
enacted, That when a person held to service or labor in any State or
Territory of the United States has heretofore or shall hereafter escape into
another State or Territory of the United States, the person or persons to whom
such service or labor may be due, or his, her, or their agent or attorney, duly
authorized, by power of attorney, in writing, acknowledged and certified under
the seal of some legal office or court of the State or Territory in which the
same may be executed, may pursue and reclaim such fugitive person, either by
procuring a warrant from some one of the courts, judges, or commissioners
aforesaid, of the proper circuit, district or county, for the apprehension of
such fugitive, where the same can be labor, or by seizing and arresting such
fugitive, where the same can be done without process, and by taking and causing
such person to be taken forthwith before such court, judge or commissioner,
whose duty it shall be to hear and determine the case of such claimant in a
summary manner; and upon satisfactory proof being made, by deposition or
affidavit, in writing…that the person so arrested does in fact owe service or
labor to the person or persons claiming him or her, in the State or Territory
from which such fugitive may have escaped…[and] with authority to such
claimant, or his or her agent or attorney, to use such reasonable force and
restraint as may be necessary…to take and remove such fugitive person back to
the State or Territory from whence he or she may have escaped as aforesaid. In
no trial or hearing under this act shall the testimony of such alleged fugitive
be admitted in evidence.…
SEC. 7. And be it
further enacted, That any person who shall knowingly and willingly
obstruct, hinder, or prevent such claimant, his agent or attorney, or any
person or persons lawfully assisting him, her, or them, from arresting such a
fugitive from service or labor, either with or without process as aforesaid; or
shall rescue, or attempt to rescue such fugitive from service or labor, from
the custody of such claimant, his or her agent or attorney or other person or
persons lawfully assisting as aforesaid, when so arrested, pursuant to the
authority herein given and declared; or shall aid, abet, or assist such person,
so owing service or labor as aforesaid, directly or indirectly, to escape from
such claimant, his agent or attorney, or other person or persons, legally
authorized as aforesaid; or shall harbor or conceal such fugitive, so as to
prevent the discovery and arrest of such person, after notice or knowledge of
the fact that such person was a fugitive from service or labor as aforesaid,
shall, for either of said offences, be subject to a fine not exceeding one
thousand dollars, and imprisonment not exceeding six months, by indictment and
conviction before the district court of the United States for the district in
which such offence may have been committed, or before the proper court of
criminal jurisdiction, if committed within any one of the organized Territories
of the United States; and shall moreover forfeit and pay, by way of civil
damages to the party injured by such illegal conduct, the sum of one thousand
dollars for each fugitive so lost as aforesaid, to be recovered by action of
debt in any of the district or territorial courts aforesaid, within whose
jurisdiction the said offence may have been committed.…
SEC. 9. And be it
further enacted, That upon affidavit made by the claimant of such fugitive,
his agent or attorney, after such certificate has been issued, that he has
reason to apprehend that such fugitive will be rescued by force from his or
their possession before he can be taken beyond the limits of the State in which
the arrest is made, it shall be the duty of the officer making the arrest to
retain such fugitive in his custody, and to remove him to the State whence he
fled, and there to deliver him to said claimant, his agent or attorney. And to
this end the officer aforesaid is hereby authorized and required to employ so
many persons as he may deem necessary, to overcome such force, and to retain
them in his service so long as circumstances may require.…
HOWELL COBB,
Speaker of the House
of Representatives.
WILLIAM R. KING,
President of the
Senate, pro tempore.
Approved September
18, 1850.
MILLARD FILLMORE