In Ableman v. Booth, the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the federal Fugitive Slave Law of 1850. The law authorized the federal government—at taxpayer expense—to seize alleged fugitive slaves, incarcerate them, and transport them back to the states they had come from. Hearings under the law were summary and often conducted without any attorney representing the alleged fugitives, who were not allowed to testify on their own behalf. The law provided for the appointment of federal commissioners in every county in the nation to preside over these summary hearings and then return fugitives to the South (or set the alleged fugitive free if the commissioners ruled against the slaveowner). Commissioners received a fee of $5.00 if they ruled in favor of the alleged slave, and $10.00 if the ruled in favor of the slaveowner.