In the 1893 case of McKane v. Durston, John McKane was convicted for election-related crimes in New York and sentenced to six years imprisonment. He appealed his conviction on the grounds that he had been denied due process because he wasn't allowed an automatic stay of execution while his appeal was pending. The U.S Supreme Court ruled against him, stating that there is no constitutional right to an appeal; appeals are purely statutory privileges provided by the state or federal government at their discretion. Therefore, any conditions placed upon such a privilege do not violate due process rights under the Fourteenth Amendment as long as they don't discriminate against certain classes of people arbitrarily or capriciously.

In the dissenting opinion for McKane v. Durston, Justice Brewer argued that a defendant should have an absolute right to appeal their case. He believed that this was not only a fundamental principle of justice but also necessary for maintaining public confidence in the judicial system. He contended that without such a right, there would be no way to correct errors made during trials and innocent people could be wrongly convicted as a result. Furthermore, he asserted that denying defendants the opportunity to appeal violated their constitutional rights under the Fourteenth Amendment's due process clause because it deprived them of liberty without due process of law.