Civil Liberties, Habeas Corpus, and the War on Terror
Jennifer Proctor
POL201: American National Government
Instructor: Luke Martin
10/29/12
Habeas Corpus has been around for very many years. Although no one knows its exact origin it still dates back pretty far. Habeas Corpus has been seen as a good thing and a bad thing. It has been around for every war we have had. It has also been suspended by two of our presidents in the past. The story and history of Habeas Corpus is a very old one but it is also a very interesting one too.
Habeas corpus, a Latin term meaning "you have the body," an important right granted to individuals in America and refers to the right of every
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The Chief Justice and Supreme Court ignored Lincoln’s order of suspension and requested that the military bring Merryman before the court. Lincoln and the military then ignored their ruling. Chief Justice Taney ruled Lincoln’s suspension unconstitutional. September 24th 1862 Lincoln issued a proclamation suspending the writs of Habeas Corpus nationwide. It also specified whose rights would be suspended, and it read; "Now, therefore, be it ordered, first, that during the existing insurrection and as a necessary measure for suppressing the same, all Rebels and Insurgents, their aiders and abettors within the United States, and all persons discouraging volunteer enlistments, resisting militia drafts, or guilty of any disloyal practice, affording aid and comfort to Rebels against the authority of United States, shall be subject to martial law and liable to trial and punishment by Courts Martial or Military Commission:" "Second. That the Writ of Habeas Corpus is suspended in respect to all persons arrested, or who are now, or hereafter during the rebellion shall be, imprisoned in any fort, camp, arsenal, military prison, or other place of confinement by any military authority of by the sentence of any Court Martial or Military Commission." (Robert Longley, 2012)
In 1866 after the American Civil War had ended the Supreme Court officially and fully restored Habeas Corpus throughout the entire nation. That would not be the first time a president would
“It is an ancient English legal concept that empowers judges to order imprisoned persons to be brought into core to determine if they are being legally held” (Lincoln and the Writ of Liberty). This quote comes from “Lincoln and the Writ of Liberty” showing how the writ of habeas of corpus allows a fair trial for all criminals. The Constitution and Bill of Rights includes accused persons the right to fair and speedy trial, a jury of peers, and protection from cruel or unusual punishment. “On September 24, 1862, Lincoln issued a proclamation unprecedented in American history. He suspended the writ of liberty everywhere in the United States. The suspensions applied to Confederate spies or to those who aided the rebel cause, interfered with military enlistments, resisted the draft, or were ‘guilty of any disloyal practice” (Lincoln and the Writ of Liberty). Mrs. Surratt was accused to be an aid in the rebel cause and the suspension of the writ of liberty affected her trial immensely. Mary Surratt’s execution was not equitable because she did not have access to the basic rights given to U.S.
In order to protect the nation, President Lincoln was entirely justified in suspending rights during the wartime situation. The North would have had no chance of victory over the Confederacy’s superior military had Lincoln not supported our small, inexperienced army. It was also crucial that the President kept the slave-holding Border States to be able to lure the
During the next few years the Bill of Rights began to be accepted by the
“When war is thrust upon the nation, the President had not only the authority but the responsibility to ‘resist force by force.’” –U.S. Supreme Court ruling of the Prize Cases, 1862 (67 U.S. 6335).
Habeas Corpus in its most familiar form has played an important role in “Anglo American history as a safe guard of individual liberty. It is defined as being a writ directed by a judge to some person who is detaining another, commanding him to bring the body of the person in his custody at a specified time and a specified place for a specified purpose. In contemporary practice, the writ is most commonly used to challenge the legality of criminal convictions and sentence, though it is also used to challenge the legality of custody in other settings, including immigration, mental health, and military contexts.
Throughout American history, the writ of habeas Corpus has been the basis of the legal system of the United States, meant to preserve civil freedoms. Habeas corpus established a constitutional check on any dictatorial power that tried to present itself. It allowed any individual that was arrested to stand in front of the court to challenge whether they were being imprisoned according to the law of the land, ensuring their civil liberties weren 't threatened; however, only in times when the stability of a country was threatened could it be temporarily suspended. President Lincoln came into office in 1861 and by the
The Writ of Habeas Corpus states that “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" (U.S. Constitution. Art. I, Sec. 9). In simpler terms, this means that the government, or its officials, is forbidden to arrest a citizen without allowing the case to be presented to a judge or court. The dictionary defines a writ as "a form of written command in the name of a court or other legal authority." Since the signing of the Magna Carta in 1215, Habeas Corpus has been a pillar of law in America ("FAQs: What Is Habeas Corpus."). It
Blackstone said that the writ of habeas corpus is the most celebrated and venerated of the English law. The US constitution therefore carried this important aspect and thus federal courts were authorized to issue writs of habeas corpus in all cases where a person may be restrained of his or her liberty in violation of the constitution, or any treaty or law of the United States. Chemerinsky (1987) in a detailed study of the operation of the writ of Habeas Corpus says that there are four major considerations in the issue related to the writ. There is the need to consider the separation of powers--the operation of the criminal justice system, the national litigations involved, and the scope of federalism. All these are affected by the changes in the abrogation of the fundamental right, and rule of law. (Chemerinsky, 1987)
A case concerning executive actions that suppress civil liberties. President Lincoln gave his military commanders powers to arrest civilians suspected in engaging in traitorous activates and ordered them to be tried in military courts. But, in location where there were not hostilities occurring, the army had no legal authority to arrest these individuals. Additionally, before civilians could be tried in military courts, martial law had to be declared and habeas corpus had to be suspended. Article I Section 9 allowed the for the suspension of habeas corpus only in cases of rebellion or invasion for public safety purposes by the legislature. Lambdin Milligan was an attorney in Indiana who was sympathetic towards the
POL 201 Week 5 Final Paper Civil Liberties, Habeas Corpus, and the War on Terror
On September 15, 1863 President Abraham Lincoln temporarily suspended Habeas Corpus, which is the right to due process. Anyone who was a confederate sympathiser or spoke out against the war were arrested, put in jail and weren 't given a trial until after the war was over. Lincoln suspended Habeas Corpus because he wanted to suppress dissenters to strengthen the War effort. More than 13,000 civilians in the Union were arrested under martial law throughout the War. Lincoln viewed his action as justified since he believed the country was in a time of crisis.
Since the president, according to the Constitution, may not formally declare a war, the blockade episode created a precedent that grants the president unilateral power to declare war in cases involving a domestic rebellion. Lincoln’s action to expand both the army and navy signifies an exertion of presidential power in that his decision interferes with Congress’s power to raise and support armies. Another episode of Lincoln exerting more military authority involved the executive order declaring people who resisted the draft and engaged in disloyal activities to the nation would be subjected to martial law. However, this episode, rather than inspiring more citizens to participate in the draft, resulted in a draft riot in New York City in 1863, which became the great civil disorder in the nation’s history. But as Nelson and Milkis observe, as much as the draft riot marks the dictatorial elements behind Lincoln’s executive order, the riot event also reinforced the idea that military justice and the suspension of habeas corpus were necessary means in preserving the peace of the
After reading The Longest War I had a pretty good understanding of how other countries viewed 9/11 and how they responded to it. Then after reading many different articles on the Library Research Page it made it clear why these countries felt the way they did. On the research page, I researched George Bush, Osama Bin Laden, Al-Qaeda, Tora Bora, World News to 9/11 in 2001, Guantanamo Bay and The Patriot Act. I researched many different types of articles which helped give me a better perspective on how other countries reacted to 9/11 and the events that followed.
According to Mount (2010), the Writ of Habeas Corpus in the United States Constitution is traced back to the early English times and later on America The Latin translation of Habeas
Ever since the beginning of the terrorist attacks on American soil, the War on Terror has been involved in the lives of Americans and nations near us. The War on Terror’s background originated through conflicts between warring countries in the Middle East; U.S. involvement started when a terrorist guided plane crashed into the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001 in New York City. The attack was suspected to be the work of the middle-eastern terrorist group Al-Qaeda. The U.S. military, under the leadership of then commander-in-chief George W. Bush, declared a “War on Terror” on the terrorist group and the fighting began.