The Mayor v. Lindsey was a United States Supreme Court case that dealt with the issue of whether a city mayor had the authority to issue a writ of habeas corpus. The case arose when the mayor of the City of Savannah, Georgia, issued a writ of habeas corpus to the sheriff of Chatham County, ordering him to bring a prisoner before the mayor for a hearing. The sheriff refused to comply with the writ, arguing that the mayor did not have the authority to issue such a writ. The Supreme Court ultimately held that the mayor did not have the authority to issue a writ of habeas corpus, as this power was reserved for the courts. The Court reasoned that the mayor was not a judicial officer and did not have the power to issue such a writ. The Court also noted that the power to issue a writ of habeas corpus was a judicial power and could not be delegated to a non-judicial officer. This case established the principle that the power to issue a writ of habeas corpus is a judicial power and cannot be delegated to a non-judicial officer.

In the case of The Mayor v. Lindsey, the Supreme Court was tasked with determining whether a city ordinance that prohibited African Americans from residing within its limits was constitutional. Justice Field delivered a dissenting opinion in which he argued that such an ordinance violated both the Thirteenth Amendment and the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. He noted that while states had some authority to regulate their own affairs, they could not pass laws or ordinances which were contrary to federal law or infringed upon fundamental rights granted by it. In this instance, he believed that prohibiting African Americans from living in certain areas constituted a violation of their right to equal protection under law as guaranteed by these amendments and thus should be struck down as unconstitutional.