Habeas Corpus Research Paper

Habeas Corpus and the War on TerrorJessica Acuna
Ashford University
Tim Howard
POL 201
8/16/2014
Habeas Corpus and the War on TerrorIn order to fully understand the rights and liberties during wartime situations, there must be some background information that needs to be expressed and explained. In this essay I will explain the definition of habeas corpus and the role of the Judicial, Legislative and Executive Branches of government during wartime and conflicts, and how the President will sometimes take the matter into his own hands. I will also provide information about examples of the suspension of habeas corpus in history.
The habeas corpus concept was first articulated in the Magna Carta, a constitutional deed enforced on King John
by English landowners at Runnymede on June 15, 1215. Among the freedoms declared in the Magna Carta was that "No free man shall be seized, or imprisoned, or disseized, or outlawed, or exiled, or injured in any way, nor will we enter on him or send against him except by the lawful judgment of his peers, or by the law of the land" (Roland,2013). The meaning of habeas corpus is defined as “A writ of habeas corpus is used to bring a prisoner or other detainee (e.g. institutionalized mental patient) before the court to determine if the person 's imprisonment or detention is lawful. In the US system, federal courts can use the writ of habeas corpus to determine if a state 's detention of a prisoner is valid” (www.law-Cornell.edu, 2014).
For an example of habeas corpus I found and event that occurred on” December 22, 1849, when 16-year-old Thomas Fitton entered an indentured apprenticeship with Michael McDermott to learn the trade of coach blacksmith. The relationship did not develop as the two had hoped, and on May 5, 1853, McDermott had the marshal for the District of Columbia put Fitton in jail for refusing to obey his orders. Fitton believed that his confinement in prison for an undetermined amount of time without any warrant of commitment from a judge or magistrate was illegal, and with the help of his brother William, he petitioned James S. Morsell, associate judge of the Circuit Court for the District of Columbia, for a writ of habeas corpus” (Naylor, 2005). Also during The American Revolution and consequent freedom from the British the framers considered the writ of habeas corpus a vital safeguard against improper imprisonment. The is evident by the inclusion of the statement in the Constitution of the United States “The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it” This shows how habeas corpus protects our civil liberties.
Since there has been an establishment of what habeas corpus it is required to explain how it takes effect during war periods.
Most of this process has focused on Guantanamo, producing three Supreme Court decisions. “The most recent, and important, Boumediene v. Bush, rejected the government’s argument that simply because a detainee is a non-citizen and is held outside the United States, he is necessarily outside the Constitution. In holding that Guantanamo detainees have a right to access U.S. courts under the habeas corpus Suspension Clause, the Court invalidated legislation by Congress seeking to deprive them of that right and deny them a fair hearing to challenge their continued imprisonment.” (Hafetz,2011). Even terrorists and combatants are given the right to a fair trial. When Congress enacted the Antiterrorism Act in response to perceived abuses of the writ of habeas corpus, it exercised its Exceptions Clause power under Article III to strip the Supreme Court of jurisdiction to hear appeals from lower court denials of second habeas
petitions.
When it comes to being the President of the United States and commander and chief, they have the right to petition that habeas corpus be suspended.
Lincoln did so during the U.S Civil War. On September 14, 2001, Congress sanctioned the president to use all necessary and appropriate force against the persons, organizations, and states responsible for the September 11 attacks. “During a war, prisoners are held not according to guilt or innocence, as in criminal cases, but as a practical matter: if released, they would likely resume the fight, so governments have traditionally detained enemy soldiers without charge until the hostilities end” (Shaw, 2009).
In my own opinion, habeas corpus should be given to the citizens of America. As a terrorist I believe all rights are to be revoked. The only problem with this view is that there could be the possibility of detaining an innocent individual. However, for instances such as September 11th, where the terrorist claims rights to the act like Osama Bin Ladin did, we as the U.S have every right to capture and conquer.
In this paper, I have explained where the Act of Habeas Corpus came from and how it originated along with a few examples of such. I also explained how the president and congress view and use the act during the war on
terror.
References:Handman, C. T. (1996). The doctrine of political accountability and supreme court jurisdiction: Applying a new external constraint to congress 's exceptions clause power. The Yale Law Journal, 106(1), 197-228. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/198460354?accountid=32521Hafetz, Jonathan (2011) http://www.acslaw.org/acsblog/habeas-corpusandthe-%E2%80%9Cwar-on-terror%E2%80%9D
Naylor, Chris (2005) "You have the body" Habeas Corpus Case Records of the U.S. Circuit Court for the District of Columbia, 1820–1863 National Archives http://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2005/fall/habeas-corpus.html Roland. Jon (2013) http://www.constitution.org/eng/magnacar.htm http://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/habeas_corpusShaw, Jonathon (2009) Harvard Magazine “The War The Writ”
http://harvardmagazine.com/2009/01/the-war-the-writ