 When the circuit court denied him relief, he refiled the case directly to the Supreme Court.Chief Justice Chase held that while the United States Congress had enacted legislation in 1868 eliminating one route to a habeas corpus hearing before the court, the Court could still hear cases of a similar nature in the first instance under the Judiciary Act of 1789.Chase concluded that the Court had jurisdiction to hear the case and the power to direct its writ at a military officer.