In the matter of the application of William M. Rhyn for a writ of Habeas Corpus

January 4, 1908 - December 8, 1908

Petitioned on January 4, 1908

Filed before the Douglas County District Court (Omaha, Nebraska)

Case ID: hc.case.ne.1049

Case Summary

William M. Rhyn, the petitioner, filed a habeas corpus petition to be released after being detained for "sabbath breaking" or engaging in common labor on Sunday. Rourke was selling cigars and newspapers on Sunday and was reported by H. S. Daniel and jailed. The case was heard by the Nebraska State Supreme Court, which found that Rhyn was not unlawfully deprived of his liberty.

Case Information

Petition type(s)

Carceral

Petition subtype(s)

Sabbath breaking

Sites of significance

Douglas County Common Jail (Omaha, Nebraska)

Outcome

Writ denied

Fate of bound party

Remained in custody

State

Nebraska

Point(s) of law cited

Sec. 241 of the Code of Complied Statues of Nebraska in 1907

People

Renao, Frank T. (petitioner attorney)
Ziegler, Isidor (Isadore) (petitioner attorney)
McDonald, John W. (holding party)
Rhyn, William M. (petitioner)
Rhyn, William M. (bound party)
Additional parties

McDonald, John W. (sheriff)

Crawford, Bryce (police magistrate)

Source Materials

To acquire the complete case file, contact the repository via email and provide the case citation to request a print copy or digital scan of the original file. Reproduction service fees vary by repository. Tribal members, descendants of enslaved petitioners, and community constituents without professional or academic affiliation may contact Katrina Jagodinsky for assistance in securing case file scans.

Repository(s)

Case citation

Douglas County (NE) Criminal Appearance Docket Books, Vol. 13: ca.1908, p. 151; RG230 Douglas County Records, Subgroup 10: District Court, 1855-1972, Series 7: Criminal Case Files, 1897-1920, Roll 34: Doc. 13-118 to 13-256, Dec. 9, 1907 - Mar. 12, 1908, No. 13-151 (microfilm)

If you are teaching, publishing, or presenting from this work, please cite this page.

Type of source(s)

Docket | Case File

Length of case file

Between 11 and 20 pages

Cite this page

If you are teaching, publishing, or presenting from this work, please cite this page as:

Katrina Jagodinsky, Cory Young, Andrew Varsanyi, Laura Weakly, Karin Dalziel, William Dewey, Erin Chambers, Greg Tunink. “In the matter of the application of William M. Rhyn for a writ of Habeas Corpus.” Petitioning for Freedom: Habeas Corpus in the American West, 1812-1924, University of Nebraska–Lincoln. Accessed April 4, 2025. https://petitioningforfreedom.unl.edu/cases/item/hc.case.ne.1049