Habeas Corpus and War on Terror
For many people in the United States, habeas corpus is the foundation stone of the country's legal system. The concept is the principal constitutional check on subjective government power by allowing an arrested individual to challenge the legitimacy of his/her detention. However, this foundation of the legal system has emerged more as a tool of politics as it is of law, especially with regards to the global war on terror. A writ of habeas corpus is defined as the demand by a court that a governmental agency produces an offender and show that they have proper grounds on which to detain him/her. Habeas corpus is commonly known as the Great Writ because it's the mechanism that is used to liberty as mentioned in the U.S. Declaration of Independence i.e. The right not to be detained arbitrarily.
Writ of Habeas Corpus in the U.S. Constitution:
A writ of…...
mlaReferences:
"Chapter 14 -- The Right to Habeas Corpus." (n.d.). Sunnylands. Retrieved September 19, 2012,
Chemerinsky, E. (n.d.). Thinking About Habeas Corpus. Retrieved September 19, 2012, from http://scholarship.law.duke.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1667&context=faculty_scholarship
Clark, J. (n.d.). Why is Habeas Corpus Important? Retrieved September 19, 2012, from http://people.howstuffworks.com/habeas-corpus-important2.htm
Habeas Corpus:
In addition to being borrowed from a Latin word, Habeas Corpus is a term associated with an important right given to individuals in the United States. Generally, a writ of habeas corpus is a legal mandate that requires a prisoner to be presented before court to ascertain whether the government has the power to continue detaining him/her. In order for the writ to be applicable the detained individual or his/her representative needs to petition the court for such a writ. Based on Article One of the United States Constitution, the individual's right to this writ can only be suspended in some cases like the invasion of public safety or rebellion. Notably, the writ of habeas corpus can also be applied in the protection of civil rights and war on terror. Actually, this judicial mandate has continued to be applied in throughout the history of the United States.
Habeas Corpus throughout…...
mlaReferences:
Chemerinsky, E. (n.d.). Thinking About Habeas Corpus. Retrieved from Duke University School
of Law website: http://scholarship.law.duke.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1667&context=faculty_scholarship
"Civil Liberties Notes." (n.d.). A Two-Year College of the University System of Georgia.
Retrieved from Bainbridge College website: http://fsweb.bainbridge.edu/jvanzo/Civil%20Liberties.pdf
Habeas Corpus/Patriot Act
Habeas Corpus: Relevance and Controversies
In basic terms, habeas corpus seeks to offer a detainee a chance to question or challenge the legality or validity of his or her detention. Given that the writ utilizes a fresh lawsuit (civil) to attack a judgment, it is regarded a "collateral attack." To begin with, there are those who see the writ as an obstruction to justice given its general view that the accuracy of a conviction is enhanced by more judicial review. In this case, there are concerns that unnecessary costs may be occasioned by excessive review. Further, it is important to note that offenders in this case may end up loosing especially if the results of subsequent trials end up being worse. The sense of finality may also be jeopardized by the writ.
The habeas corpus law has particularly come under the spot light in the past with detainees held at…...
Thus, the CST was an ineffective "dummy" review tribunal that sought to reinforce the current status of detainees in the Guantanamo detention camp -- denied to have a review of their case, and denied of any right to be tried by a court for their case.
Another compelling argument that ultimately granted the petitioners to their right to exercise the writ of habeas corpus was the Supreme Court's recognition that the Bush Administration's "war on terror" has been a millennium-old conflict in human history -- a conflict between believers of Islam and Christianity. To suspend the writ of habeas corpus based on this kind of "war on terror" would be simply denying the detainees of their rights, as it would probably take centuries still for this "war" to end, if it will ever end at all. Thus, recognizing that the "war on terror" is a war that has been ongoing…...
mlaReferences
Gaffney, M. (2009). "Boumediene v. Bush: Legal realism and the war on terror." Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review, Vol. 44.
Martinez, J. (2008). "Process and substance in the "war on terror." Columbia Law Review, Vol. 108, No. 5.
Terry, J. (2008). "Habeas corpus and the detention of enemy combatants in the war on terror." Joint Force Quarterly, Issue 48.
Waxman, M. (2009). "Guantanamo, habeas corpus, and standards of proof: viewing the law through multiple lenses." Columbia Public Law & Legal Theory Working Papers. Paper 9173.
habeas corpus U.S. Constitution relationship protection civil liberties. 2-The historical evolution habeas corpus, including English American traditions.
The writ of habeas corpus is one of the fundamental rights that a person detained is given. This writ of habeas corpus demands that a person detained by the authorities has the right to be brought before the court so that the basis for such detention can be established. A suspect irrespective of the criminal actions committed is considered innocent until proven guilty. The detainee has the obligation of justifying the reason for detention before a court of competent jurisdiction within a time specified. There are, however, times in which the power of habeas corpus can be suspended by parliament. This could, however result into the practical problem in which the authorities could indefinitely detain suspected criminals rather than bring charges against them. This paper is therefore determined at determining the rationale of…...
mlaReferences
Binney, H. (1865). The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus under the Constitution. Philadelphia: C. Sherman & Sons, printers.
Boumediene v. Bush, F. (2008). ProPublica has published a chart listing habeas challenges by Guantanamo detainees that have been decided by federal judges.
Department of Justice. (2009). Department of Justice Withdraws 'Enemy Combatant' Definition for Guantanamo Detainees Retrieved March 13, 2009, from http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2009/March/09-ag-232.html
Freidel, F.B. (1967). Union pamphlets of the Civil War, 1861-1865. Cambridge: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.
Habeas Corpus / GWOT
The civil rights entailed by habeas corpus -- a Latin phrase meaning something like "let you have the body" -- ultimately find their origin in the Magna Carta, a document which was signed (somewhat reluctantly) by King John of England nearly eight hundred years ago, in 1215, and which placed basic limitations on the absolute rule of the monarch or sovereign over the representative government of Parliament. Parliament would gradually expand its own rights by legislation, and so the more direct origin of habeas corpus is the 1679 Habeas Corpus Act, whose formal title was "an Act for the better securing the liberty of the subject" (Chomsky 2012). The basic provision of the act was to allow remedy for those wrongfully or illegally imprisoned. Although the United States (unlike Great Britain) has a formal written Constitution containing enumerated rights, habeas corpus occupies a slightly odd position in…...
Habeas Corpus
The legal term Harbeas Corpus is Latin for "you have the body." The term is an injunction that offers direction to law enforcement representatives who have custody of a detainee to appear in the court of law with the detainee to assist the judge to conclude whether the detainee is being held in prison in a lawful manner or not (Legal Dictionary).This court order is generally attained in the jurisdiction with regards to where the detainee is being held. An injunction of habeas corpus is basically the act of challenging or contesting the lawfulness of a detainee's incarceration and does not involve an investigation or probe into the detainee' sculpability or guiltlessness. Once the court that issues the court order examines and scrutinizes the why's and wherefores for confinement, it can then choose to discharge the detainee or incarcerate the inmate into custody.
Historical Evolution of Habeas corpus
The conception of…...
mlaReferences
Constitution of the United States (1787).
Elsea, J.K., Garcia, M.J. (2010). Enemy Combatant Detainees: Habeas Corpus Challenges in Federal Court. Congressional Research Service.
Federal Judicial Center. (N.D.). History of the Federal Judiciary. Accessed from: http://www.fjc.gov/history/home.nsf/page/jurisdiction_habeas.html
Gaffney, M. (2009).Boumediene v. Bush: Legal Realism and the Waron Terror. Retrieved from: http://www.law.harvard.edu/students/orgs/crcl/vol44_1/197-212.pdf
Civil Liberties, Habeas Corpus, GWOT
The legal right known as "habeas corpus" is what protects a citizen from being suddenly seized and arrested for no reason, and locked up without trial. It is considered to be a foundation of the modern legal system, and without it there is no guarantee that arrest, imprisonment, or even capital punishment may not be practiced essentially on a whim. The right is officially enshrined in British law by the 1679 Habeas Corpus Act, and was considered to be so necessary a bedrock of the common law that the U.S. Constitution only refers to Habeas Corpus in order to specify the (exceptionally rare) circumstances in which the right may be revoked. The originally British law was entitled "an Act for the better securing the liberty of the subject" but essentially enshrined as legislation an earlier common law concept which used the Latin phrase in its offical…...
mlaReferences
Cole, David. "President Obama, Did You or Did You Not Kill Anwar Al-Awlaki?" The Washington Post. February 8, 2013. Accessed at http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/president-obama-did-or-did-you-not-kill-anwar-al-awlaki/2013/02/08/0347f4de-70c9-11e2-a050-b83a7b35c4b5_story.html
Kennedy, Anthony. Majority Opinion, Boumediene v. Bush. 553 U.S. 723 (2008).
MacPherson, James. Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era. New York: Oxford University Press, 1988.
Roberts, John. Dissent, Boumediene v. Bush. 553 U.S. 723 (2008).
history of Habeas Corpus. There are twelve references used for this paper.
There have been a number of laws that have survived the test of time and continue to influence the legal world. It is important to look at the history of Habeas Corpus and the role it plays in the law today.
The Start of Habeas Corpus
Habeas corpus was first introduced in England in 1215 when the Magna Carta was written. hen habeas corpus was first used, it had a limited range. Over time the scope expanded due to jurisdictional disputes between the superior courts and local courts of England.
Habeas corpus cum causa was the form of habeas corpus used by the courts which "compelled the sheriff to produce the prisoner who was the subject of the courts' jurisdictional dispute (Orye, law review)." series of crucial cases which began with the Case of the Five Knights and concluded with the…...
mlaWorks Cited
Dr. Mehler's Notes on Habeas Corpus. (accessed 12, October 2003). www.ferris.edu/htmls/academics/syllabi/mehlerbarry/geninfo/drmnot...).
Habeas Corpus Defined and Explained. (accessed 12 October, 2003) www.lectlaw.com/def/h001.htm).
Habeas Corpus Definition. (accessed 12 October, 2003). www.acorn.net/jfkplace/09/fp.back_issues/17th_Issue/h_corpus.html).
Hafetz, Jonathan L. The untold story of noncriminal habeas corpus and the 1996
Controversial President Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln lived during very controversial times. Moreover, he was elected president in an age in which the very foundation of American social and political life was fraught with controversy. Therefore, it is not surprising that Lincoln's presidency was filled with the sort of controversy that typified the age in which he lived. In fact, many of the more controversial aspects of Lincoln's presidency had widely escape the notice of those who uphold his legacy. Lincoln famously suspended the writ of Habeas Corpus during the period directly proceeding and involving the Civil ar. This basic tenement of law enforcement and criminal proceedings is foundational to the U.S. criminal justice system, yet Lincoln did not so much as hesitate in suspending it. Additionally, he made a practice of fairly routinely throwing his opponents in jail. hat is so striking about this practice is that these were political opponents…...
mlaWorks Cited
Dueholm, James, A. "Lincoln's Suspension of the Writ of Habeas Corpus: An Historical and Constitutional Analysis. Journal of the Abraham Lincoln Association. 2008. Web. -- lincoln-s-suspension-of-the-writ-of-habeas-corpus?rgn=main;view=fulltexthttp://quod.lib.umich.edu/j/jala/2629860.0029.205/
Maas, Alan. "Lincoln and the Struggle to Abolish Slavery." www.socialistworker.com 2009. Web. http://socialistworker.org/2009/02/12/lincoln-and-the-struggle-to-abolish-slavery
Neely, Jr., Mark. "The Lincoln Administration and Arbitrary Arrests: A Reconsideration." Journal of the Abraham Lincoln Association. 1983. Web. -- lincoln-administration-and-arbitrary-arrests?rgn=main;view=fulltexthttp://quod.lib.umich.edu/j/jala/2629860.0005.103/
CONSTITUTIONAL LAW AND POLICY FactsAli Hussein Akbar is a Jordanian citizen who was captured abroad and imprisoned as an enemy combatant at Balad Air Base in Iraq. Balad Air Base is controlled by U.S. military forces. Mr. Akbar filed a writ of habeas corpus, claiming that although he was given the status of enemy combatant, the U.S. had not yet filed formal charges, had not allowed him an opportunity to answer any charges, had not given him assistance of counsel, and had no opportunity to be head before a neutral tribunal. The United States Army, along with the D.O.J., filed a motion to dismiss the habeas corpus petition.IssueWhether Mr. Akbar, a non-U.S. citizen enemy combatant, is entitled to be heard on a habeas corpus petition?RuleAlien enemy combatants have the right to be heard on a habeas corpus petition if (1) their designation as enemy combatant lacked sufficient process; (2) the…...
" Despite the stated expansion, habeas protection continued to be applied only to cases in which the defendant alleged that the sentencing court lacked personal or subject matter jurisdiction. The Court extended the reach of federal habeas review during the later part of the nineteenth century, however, by changing the circumstances under which the lack of state court jurisdiction could be found. Even after this shift, federal habeas courts sat not as fact finders but as guarantors of fundamental constitutional rights. (Breuer, 1994)
In 1915, the Court dramatically increased the scope of habeas corpus in Frank v. Mangum, in which the Court held that habeas relief is available whenever the state, "supplying no corrective process,... deprives the accused of his life or liberty without due process of law." The Warren Court continued this shift toward increased availability of habeas corpus in the next phase of habeas litigation after World War II.…...
mlaReferences
Breuer, J.R. (1994). Habeas Corpus - Limited Review for Actual Innocence. Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, 84(4), 943-974.
Hafetz, J.L. (1998). The Untold Story of Non-criminal Habeas Corpus and the 1996 Immigration Acts. Yale Law Journal, 107(8), 2509-2544.
Hammel, A. (2002). Diabolical Federalism: A Functional Critique and Proposed Reconstruction of Death Penalty Federal Habeas. American Criminal Law Review, 39(1), 1+.
Hoffstadt, B.M. (2000). How Congress Might Redesign a Leaner, Cleaner Writ of Habeas Corpus. Duke Law Journal, 49(4), 947.
Therefore, the claim asserted by espondents and sustained by the court below would, in practical effect, amount to a right not to be tried at all for an offense against the U.S. armed forces. 339 U.S. 763, 782 (1950).
The Court examined the issue of whether the military authorities had jurisdiction to try the offenders. It reasoned that military authorities have had a historical right, during and after hostilities, to punish those who have violated the laws of war, and this history predates the existence of the United States, and therefore, the existence of the Constitution. espondents' convictions were the result of a military commission exercising this historic right, and it was the military commission's sole ability to determine whether the laws of war applied to espondents and whether espondents had violated those laws. There is nothing in the Constitution giving the Court appellate jurisdiction over these types of military…...
mlaReferences
Johnson v. Eisentrager, 339 U.S. 763 (1950). Retrieved October 5, 2011 from Findlaw website:
Soon U.S. invasion Afghanistan 2001, Bush administration developed a plan holding interrogating prisoners
Niday, I.A. (2008). "The War against Terror as War against the Constitution." Canadian Review of American Studies, 38(1), 101-117.
There are a number of essential elements that make up the article written by Jackson A. Niday, "The War against Terror as War against the Constitution." The principle point of this article is to explore the question of whether or not the civil rights of Yaser Esam Hamdi, who was a United States and Saudia Arabian citizen detained at Guantanamo Bay during 2002 after being captured in Afghanistan in the initial stages of the War on Terror, were violated. While seeking to answer this question, the author examines the 2004 Supreme Court lawsuit Hamdi v. Rumsfield in which legal counsel on behalf of Hamdi alleged that his rights were violated as a U.S. citizen -- particularly his right to habeas…...
mlaOne of the fundamental questions I have after thoroughly reading this article is a point that was made in the abstract and was not quite sufficiently explained in the rest of the body of the paper. Specifically, it has to do with the legal philosophy known as pragmatism. I do not understand what this concept is and could not find a sufficient explanation in the remainder of the paper. I would like to know why the author claims that pragmatism was forsaken for "judicial and constitutional coherency" (Niday, 2008, p. 101).
Thesis Statement:
An examination of a number of sources regarding various facets of the domestic and foreign policy propagated by the U.S. government unequivocally reveals that there is a definite incongruence with the values of liberty and justice that is reserved for conventional U.S. citizens, and that which is reserved for people from other parts of the globe. Quite simply, many of the notions that the U.S. contends to champion and preserve for its own people, it directly violates for the citizens in other parts of the world.
Government Changes post-Revolution ar vs. post-Civil ar
Close examination of the reasons for and the results of the Revolutionary ar and the Civil ar forces me to disagree with McPherson's position that more radical change in government occurred due to the Civil ar than the Revolutionary ar. In order to understand how this is true, one must look at several issues, such as the causes of each of the wars, the purposes and intentions, and the ultimate results.
The Revolutionary ar was based on the struggle to become independent from Great Britain and this struggle began due to a series of taxes forced upon the citizens. So "taxation without representation" was the initial call to arms however, it grew to include other freedoms as well.
The Civil ar was utterly a different process of situation. hile claims by the South of freedom it was always an economic issue tightly woven with the issue…...
mlaWorks Cited
Abraham Lincoln, Cooper Union Address, New York City Presidential Campaign
Confederate States of America-Declaration of the Immediate Causes Which Induce and Justify the Secession of South Carolina from the Federal Union, December 1860, South Carolina
Lincoln, Abraham. "First Inaugural Address." Washington D.C. Mar. 1861. Address.
Ordinance of 1787
Abraham Lincoln: The President Who Guided the Nation Through the Civil War
The American Civil War, a brutal conflict fought from 1861 to 1865, witnessed the rise of one of the most consequential figures in American history: President Abraham Lincoln. His leadership during this pivotal era played a transformative role in shaping the nation's destiny and forever etched his name in the annals of greatness.
The Road to the Presidency
Born in a humble log cabin in Kentucky in 1809, Lincoln's early life was marked by poverty and self-education. Despite these challenges, he developed a keen intellect and a deep understanding of law....
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