 The only dissent came from Kentuckian John Marshall Harlan . Harlan opined that not only did the court have jurisdiction , it should have sustained the writ of error on the grounds that the General Assembly 's actions had deprived Taylor and Marshall of property without due process , in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment . Going beyond the claim that an elective office is property , Harlan wrote that the right to hold office fell within the definition of " liberty " as used in the Fourteenth Amendment . Justifying this claim , Harlan wrote : " What more directly involves the liberty of the citizen than to be able to enter upon the discharge of the duties of an office to which he has been lawfully elected by his fellow citizens ? " 
