People ex rel. Bryant v. Williams

This habeas corpus proceeding was instituted in the circuit court of Cook County by Frank M. Bryant and Aslean Bryant to recover the custody of a five-year-old child from the respondent, Elizabeth Williams, the child’s mother. The petition alleged the child was “detained and unlawfully restrained of her liberty” by her mother; that the mother “abandoned and deserted said child for a period of and in excess of five years (sic) and said mother is therefore unfit to have the care and custody of her said child;” and that the mother left the child with the petitioners “on or about August 18, 1959…