Otis Arguments Against The Writs Of Assistance

Otis gave specific reasons for opposing the writs of assistance. For one example Otis stated how the writs of assistance was the worst law to ever be implemented. He believed that the writs of assistance was an abuse of power and it denied the citizens of the colonies their rights. The right that was being denied to the citizens was the right to privacy; Otis thought this would lead to the abuse of power of the British authorities. Also, Otis argued the fact that any low ranking British government official was able to get a writ, which allowed the abuse of power to get out of control. Besides the fact that the writs of assistance denied the colonists basic human rights, these rights then could have been dismissed much more easily; the power

The writs of assistance was originally issued to allow authorities to search potential smuggler’s homes without the need for legitimate proof of their crimes. Although, when officials were given this power over the colonists it caused a stir among them, and the writs of assistance soon lead to the abuse of British authority. The writs of assistance was not proposed to the colonists, the British government had total control and implemented the new law without the opinion of the settlers of the colonies. The argument that exclaimed how the writs of assistance completely contradicted the previous law, which upheld that search warrants could only have been issued with probable cause, showed how the power of the British to create laws that trampled on the previous rights that the colonists

Otis believed that every human had the right to be comfortable in their own home, and that every person’s house was their own personal domain, their small kingdom that they ruled, and that penetrating that kingdom without probable cause should be illegal. By allowing British officials to enter the homes of colonists for any arbitrary reason the British government was annihilating this privilege. Therefore, the British government was dismissing the basic human rights of the colonists in order to promote their own