Writ Of Habeas Corpus Essay
Jaquilynn Williford
American National Government ACK1509F
Week 5 Final Paper
Writ of Habeas Corpus Habeas Corpus is simply defined as recourse in law that may be applied before a court in cases where the unlawful detention or imprisonment of a person is suspected. (Wikipedia) A writ of habeas corpus is a judicial mandate to a prison official ordering that an inmate be brought to the court so it can be determined whether or not that person is imprisoned lawfully and whether or not he should be released from custody. (Lexicon) A habeas corpus petition can be filed to a court by a person who objects to his or her own or another’s detention or imprisonment. Think about pervious wars we have endured. How many detainees have been detained and questioned then released? Many Presidents have tried to deny …show more content…
request to prisoners which has been a debate dating as far back as Abraham Lincoln’s time in office in 1861. In this essay, there is an opportunity to gain knowledge on the history and origin of habeas corpus, how it plays a role in our U.S. Constitution, and relevance of habeas corpus to the contemporary U.S. situation during the war on terror. The phrase habeas corpus is Latin for “you have the body”.
It is a commonly used among many countries still today. The concept was first introduced in the Magna Carta in June of 1215; which is “sometimes called the Great Charter, the Magna Charta is widely considered to be the foundation of the English and U.S. constitutional systems, representing the first time the often tyrannical power of the monarchy was restrained by law and popular resistance” (Legal-Dictionary). In the Magna Carta, it states “"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." This principle evolved to mean that no person should be deprived of freedom without Due Process of Law. This defined as a fundamental, constitutional guarantee that all legal proceedings will be fair and that one will be given notice of the proceedings and an opportunity to be heard before the government acts to take away one 's life, liberty, or property. Also, a constitutional guarantee that a law shall not be
unreasonable. The writ of habeas corpus was first used by the common-law courts in thirteenth- and fourteenth-century England. The U.S. Constitution only references the writ of habeas corpus once in Article I, Section 9, Clause 2. The clause 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." President Abraham Lincoln suspended the writ in during the time of the Civil War due to the fact that anyone that could be considered dangerous should be detained. Unfortunately, due to the Judiciary Act of 1789 which granted federal courts the power to hear the habeas corpus petitions, problems started to arise. I few years later at President Lincoln’s suspension, Congress passed the Habeas Corpus Act. This gave federal courts basically the right to issue writs to any person being detained by the U.S. at a chance of being released.
References
http://www.lectlaw.com/def/h001.htm
http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/habeas+corpus
American National Government ACK1509F
Week 5 Final Paper
Writ of Habeas Corpus Habeas Corpus is simply defined as recourse in law that may be applied before a court in cases where the unlawful detention or imprisonment of a person is suspected. (Wikipedia) A writ of habeas corpus is a judicial mandate to a prison official ordering that an inmate be brought to the court so it can be determined whether or not that person is imprisoned lawfully and whether or not he should be released from custody. (Lexicon) A habeas corpus petition can be filed to a court by a person who objects to his or her own or another’s detention or imprisonment. Think about pervious wars we have endured. How many detainees have been detained and questioned then released? Many Presidents have tried to deny …show more content…
request to prisoners which has been a debate dating as far back as Abraham Lincoln’s time in office in 1861. In this essay, there is an opportunity to gain knowledge on the history and origin of habeas corpus, how it plays a role in our U.S. Constitution, and relevance of habeas corpus to the contemporary U.S. situation during the war on terror. The phrase habeas corpus is Latin for “you have the body”.
It is a commonly used among many countries still today. The concept was first introduced in the Magna Carta in June of 1215; which is “sometimes called the Great Charter, the Magna Charta is widely considered to be the foundation of the English and U.S. constitutional systems, representing the first time the often tyrannical power of the monarchy was restrained by law and popular resistance” (Legal-Dictionary). In the Magna Carta, it states “"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." This principle evolved to mean that no person should be deprived of freedom without Due Process of Law. This defined as a fundamental, constitutional guarantee that all legal proceedings will be fair and that one will be given notice of the proceedings and an opportunity to be heard before the government acts to take away one 's life, liberty, or property. Also, a constitutional guarantee that a law shall not be
unreasonable. The writ of habeas corpus was first used by the common-law courts in thirteenth- and fourteenth-century England. The U.S. Constitution only references the writ of habeas corpus once in Article I, Section 9, Clause 2. The clause 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." President Abraham Lincoln suspended the writ in during the time of the Civil War due to the fact that anyone that could be considered dangerous should be detained. Unfortunately, due to the Judiciary Act of 1789 which granted federal courts the power to hear the habeas corpus petitions, problems started to arise. I few years later at President Lincoln’s suspension, Congress passed the Habeas Corpus Act. This gave federal courts basically the right to issue writs to any person being detained by the U.S. at a chance of being released.
References
http://www.lectlaw.com/def/h001.htm
http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/habeas+corpus