So the officers asked the judges to give them writs of assistance.

Among the leading lawyers of Boston was James Otis.

He was the king's law officer in the province.

But he resigned his office and opposed the granting of the writs.

He objected to the use of writs of assistance because they enabled a customs officer to become a tyrant.
Armed with one of them he could go to the house of a man he did not like and search it from attic to cellar, turn everything upside down and break open doors and trunks.