He is remembered primarily for his role in a case Kielley v. Carson which established a limit on the powers granted to assemblies in British colonies.
Kielley was brought before the assembly; refusing to apologize, he called Kent "a liar and a coward".
He was sent to jail but was released by the sheriff on a writ of habeas corpus issued by George Lilly, an assistant justice of the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court of Newfoundland found in favour of the assembly in December 1838 but this decision was overturned by the judicial committee of the British Privy Council in January 1843, who found that colonial parliaments did not necessarily have all the privileges associated with the British House of Commons.
[3] In 1844, the assembly found that Kielley should be compensated out of public funds for his legal expenses in the matter.