In re Burrus, Petitioner is a Supreme Court case from 1866 that dealt with the issue of emancipation of slaves. The petitioner, Burrus, was a slave who had been emancipated by his master in 1864. However, the state of Missouri refused to recognize the emancipation and Burrus was arrested and held in custody. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of Burrus, finding that the emancipation was valid and that the state of Missouri had no authority to interfere with it. The Court held that the power to emancipate slaves was vested in the master, and that the state could not interfere with the exercise of that power. The decision was a major victory for the abolitionist movement, as it established the principle that the power to emancipate slaves was vested in the master and could not be interfered with by the state.

In Re Burrus was a Supreme Court case in which the petitioner, Burrus, argued that he should be allowed to remain on his father's land after his father died. The majority opinion of the court held that under Illinois law, when a parent dies intestate (without leaving a will), all of their property passes to their children and not to any other relatives or individuals. However, Justice Harlan dissented from this ruling and argued that Burrus should have been able to stay on the land because he had lived there for many years prior and had made improvements upon it with his own labor. He also noted that allowing him to remain would not cause any harm or prejudice against anyone else who might inherit the property since they could still receive its value through an equitable distribution of assets among heirs. Ultimately, Justice Harlan felt strongly enough about this issue that he wrote an extensive dissent in order for future courts considering similar cases involving tenancy by estoppel rights could take into account both sides of the argument before making their decision.