Penn was arrested for “unlawful preaching” but a jury declared him not guilty.

Penn’s father, Admiral William Penn, died. From his deathbed, Admiral Penn petitions King Charles II to favor his son.

Penn-Meade Trial
Penn and fellow Quaker William Meade were arrested in 1670 for preaching on a London street. The jury found him not guilty on charges of inciting a riot. This was a groundbreaking shift in legal precedent, as the jury refused to bow to pressure from the Lord Chief Justice and Recorder of London to declare them guilty. They even imprisoned the jurors for 3 days without food, water, or chamber pots, but still they would not relent. Parliament soon after passed a law protecting juries from being jailed or punished for their decisions.