Fugitive from Labor Cases Background The cases of Henry Garnett and Moses Honner bookend the 1850s, a decade of intensifying political crisis that was deeply connected to the institution of slavery. In both court actions, the defendants were charged with being "fugitives from labor," but, despite numerous similarities, the outcomes of the cases were exactly opposite. Both cases were tried in the Third Circuit Court, Eastern District, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Escape to freedom was one of the m