...HABEAS CORPUS AND THE WAR ON TERROR Renita Redding Instructor: Cindy Campbell POL 201 April 27, 2015 A writ of habeas corpus is a judicially enforceable order issued by a court of law, this orders that is given to a prison officer, that orders a prisoner to brought to court to determine if the prisoner has been justly imprisoned and should the prisoner be released from prison. This order takes place by a prisoner petitioning the courts for a hearing about his imprisonment. According to The Constitution of the United States of America, it is the right of a prisoner to show evidence to prove that they have been unjustly imprisoned. The sole purpose of the habeas corpus was to ensure that the government from holding a prisoner indefinitely without being charged or taken before a judge. Our forefathers believed that habeas corpus was so important that they made provisions for it in the first article of the United States Constitution. This paper will explore habeas corpus and the war on terror. Historians believe that the first time the term “habeas corpus” was known was around 1305 in England. It is thought to have been a part of the Magna Carta, signed into law by King John. The original wording of Article 39 of the Magna Carta, stated, “No freeman shall be taken, or imprisoned, or disseized, or outlawed, or exiled, or in any way harmed- nor will we go upon him- save by the lawful judgement of his peers or by the law”, Mcelroy, W. (2009). The Magna Carta was rewritten in...
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...Civil Liberties, Habeas Corpus, and the War on Terror U.S. Presidents have been known to assert their presidential prerogative in times of crisis. Their decisions, sometimes haste and irrational, were rarely challenged by the Supreme Court because of extenuating circumstances. Over the years, our nation’s leaders made the tough decisions that raised eyebrows in the Supreme Court and caused confusion among the American public. The latest battle that has our nation in an uproar is terrorism. Since the attack on September 11, 2001, the American government has exercised its powers to detain suspected terrorist or illegal combatants for the sake of national security. Such actions violate the right of habeas corpus which grants detainees due process in court. Is it a question of what is right according to the executive powers of war or the right of habeas corpus? The need to explore the right of habeas corpus is an understatement; during the war on terror, it was simply an afterthought. Habeas Corpus has evolved over the course of history but still holds the same core principles. Unlike the evolution of man, habeas corpus has been subjective to interpretation and uncertainty of its true meaning. The Habeas Corpus Act 1679 was passed during the reign of King Charles II by what became known as the Habeas Corpus Parliament to define and strengthen the ancient prerogative writ of habeas corpus, a procedural device to force the courts to examine the lawfulness of a prisoner's detention...
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...Civil Liberties, Habeas Corpus, and the War on Terror POL 201: American National Government April 17, 2013 Civil Liberties, Habeas Corpus, and the War on Terror The war on terror presents an unpredictable challenge for the United States. Throughout history, the motivation of man’s self-interest has concluded in the domination of those with little or no power. Habeas Corpus is written in the constitution as a right of the people and should be a safeguard to protect all accused persons, but many presidents have found ways not to enforce the right. In history the writ of habeas corpus has been challenged by many president from Lincoln to most recently Bush with abuse of power by the president. I will exam whether the president goes against the constitution to protect the safety of its citizens in a time of war or is it an abuse of power because the president is the commander and chief. Is the president acting on behalf of the people or is it a personal agenda. Habeas Corpus in Latin, means, “You have the body.” According to our text habeas corpus means, “a demand by a court to a jailer to produce the prisoner and announce the charges” (Waldman-Levin, 2012, 5.7). In my opinion for most Americans, habeas corpus protects a prisoner and it also allows a prisoner to indicate that his/her constitution guarantees rights to a fair trial. “From a political point of view, the great value of habeas corpus is that it protects citizens from a dangerous tendency which is generally...
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...Civil Liberties, Habeas Corpus, and the War on Terror Amy K. Breitkreitz POL201: American National Government Instructor Jimmie McKnight February 9, 2015 A Writ of Habeas Corpus is that of a legal act that calls for an individual under seizure to be brought in front of a court of law for an inquiry to essentially decide if they are guilty or not of the suspected crime (Levin-Waldman, 2012). The Writ of Habeas Corpus explicitly brings up the right to contest one's arrest and imprisonment. It is also a way for the government to force an individual to come before the courts. By permitting an independent judge to analysis the legitimacy of the individual’s confinement and instruct that the detainee be freed if the circumstances are unlawful, habeas corpus functions as a safeguard against unlawful seizure, arrest, and torture. While habeas corpus has been upheld as a fundamental right of the imprisoned, this safeguard has been obstructed throughout our history, making the habeas corpus right, at times, a subject of our desire for refuge during times of emergency. The beginnings of habeas corpus can be traced to the year 1215 in the 39th article of the Magna Carta signed by King John, which says that: "No man may be restrained or confined except by the lawful declaration of his peers or by the decree of the land" (Farrell, 2009). At first, habeas corpus was a resource used to summons an individual before the courts. However, by the turn of the 14th Century, higher courts were...
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...person can be determined innocent or guilty if either aren’t proven the detainee must be let free. This paper is going to attempt to analyze the historical evolution of Habeas Corpus; give examples from history of the suspension of Habeas Corpus, as well as analyzing it relevance. Habeas Corpus derived from English common law and first appeared in the Magna Carta of 1215 and is the oldest human right in history. Habeas Corpus translated means “you should have the body” habeas corpus is a legal action, or writ, by which those imprisoned unlawfully can seek relief from their imprisonment” (N.A, Habeas Corpus-The Rutherford Institute, 2015). Habeas Corpus was extremely important to the Framers of the Constitution from their personal experiences. When one was capture they were considered either an enemy combatant, imprisoned indefinitely and denied the opportunity to have a fair trial. It became increasing to the founders to protect the American people from such atrocities. March 4, 1801 President Jefferson in his first inaugural addressed the necessity of habeas corpus. President Jefferson belief was found the “freedom of person under the protection of the Habeas Corpus; and trial by juries impartially selected” (N.A, Habeas Corpus-The Rutherford Institute, 2015). There have been only two cases where habeas corpus was suspended in history. In the case of Ex Parte Merryman Lincoln declared martial law on Maryland because of John Merryman whom was a pro-confederate lieutenant in...
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...A Writ of Habeas Corpus as outlined in our book is that of a legal act that calls for an individual under seizure to be brought in front of a court of law for an inquiry to essentially decide if they are guilty or not of the suspected crime (Levin-Waldman, 2012). The Writ of Habeas Corpus explicitly brings up the right to contest one's arrest and imprisonment. It is also a way for the government to force an individual to come before the courts. By permitting an independent judge to analysis the legitimacy of the individual’s confinement and instruct that the detainee be freed if the circumstances are unlawful, habeas corpus functions as a safeguard against unlawful seizure, arrest, and torture. While habeas corpus has been upheld as a fundamental right of the imprisoned, this safeguard has been obstructed throughout our history, making the habeas corpus right, at times, a subject of our desire for refuge during times of emergency. The beginnings of habeas corpus can be traced to the year 1215 in the 39th article of the Magna Carta signed by King John, which says that: "No man may be restrained or confined except by the lawful declaration of his peers or by the decree of the land" (Rohde, S 2010). At first, habeas corpus was a resource used to summons an individual before the courts. However, by the turn of the 14th Century, higher courts were using the Writ of Habeas Corpus as a way of examining the surroundings of an individual’s confinement by the lower courts (Farrell, B...
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...Habeas Corpus POL 201 Instructor Burrus May 5th, 2014 Habeas Corpus Habeas Corpus has been around a very long time and has been very controversial as of late. With the war on terror and the many debates about the rights of said terrorists, it has become the spotlight amongst those who demand reform or better clarification of Habeas Corpus in terms of those deemed as enemies “without borders.” In this paper I hope to explain how Habeas Corpus came about as well as its historical purposes. Along those lines I hope to generally define the term/topic as well as how it protects civil liberties other than those aforementioned in this paragraph. Along with some specific examples and how it was suspended in certain scenarios, I will also analyze its relevance to terrorists, or those marked as enemy combatants. I will also shed some light on a few perspectives from scholarly resources. Habeas Corpus has been around since the 16th century back in England when there were still monarchies in power. It was created in order to get rid of what was called the “STAR chamber.” They were “controlled by the crown and held sessions in secret, meting out severe punishments.” (Funk & Wagnalls 2009) Habeas Corpus writs came about in 1641 due to unfair and unjust imprisonments in England. In America, we adopted habeas corpus from Europeans when we broke away in independence. It is a piece of our Constitution and is very clear to whom it applies to. The writ of Habeas Corpus was amended...
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...Habeas Corpus and the War on Terror POL 201 American National Government The recent War on Terror has caused quite a stir. Many patriotic Americans are now on guard even though the main character in the War on Terror, Osama Bin Laden, has been caught and executed. Many other “terrorists” have been arrested and detained at a prison at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. This raises the question of whether they are being detained legally or not. One issue is the concept of habeus corpus. This essay will briefly outline the war on terror and demonstrate the concept of habeus corpus and what it means for detainees at Guantanamo Bay. The War on Terror may have begun with the bombings of two US embassies in East Africa in the countries of Kenya and Tanzania in 1998. At the time, it was uncertain who caused the attack or why it happened. “Two bombs with a single message: don't forget the world's superpower still has enemies, secret, violent and determined. America is ever a target, its embassies and installations abroad inviting symbols of its power See, say the bombers, despite your enormous wealth and strength, we can still inflict a great hurt” (McGreary, 1998). This message suggested that there was more terror on the horizon. The author remembers this well as he went to Kenya in 1998 and returned from his trip two days before the US Embassy was bombed there. Many Americans may have forgotten about these attacks when, three years later, the United States was attacked on its...
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...Civil Liberties, Habeas Corpus and the War on Terror American National Government Civil Liberties, Habeas Corpus and the War on Terror Introduction The constitution of the US grants every citizen civil liberty and freedom. According to the Habeas corpus, a person should not be detained without a just and legal cause. It is a legal precedent that evolved in both the English and American traditions. The Habeas corpus is an important individual right in the US constitution that supersedes the other first ten amendments. However, Habeas Corpus is significant when combating terror. Thesis statement: the non-American terror suspects have the civil right of habeas corpus. The writ of habeas corpus According to the constitution of the US Article One and Section nine, “an accused individual has the right of habeas corpus unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public safety may require it" (Mason, 2011, p.12). As earlier defined and described, the accused persons have the right of habeas corpus that allows their detention to be interpreted in courts of law to establish whether they are being held legally. Nevertheless, the right of habeas corpus safeguards the civil liberties because it is the foundation of our constitutional democracy. Notably, the right of habeas corpus protects individuals from unlawful imprisonment at all times including war on terror. The US constitution ingrains the right of habeas corpus in order to protect detainee's civil...
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...Civil Liberties, Habeas Corpus, and the War on Terror POL201: American National Government Instructor: Civil Liberties, Habeas Corpus, and the War on Terror This paper will talk about the right of habeas corpus in the context of the war on terror. I will explain the historical evolution of habeas corpus as well as explain of its evolution within the American tradition and will include the general meaning of the right of habeas corpus in the U.S. Constitution and its relationship to the protection of other civil liberties. I will provide examples from U.S. history of the suspension of habeas corpus and their applicability to the present. Analyze the relevance of habeas corpus to the contemporary U.S. situation during the war on terror, especially with respect to persons characterized by as enemy combatants or illegal combatants. I will be evaluating a minimum of four perspectives on this topic expressed by justices of the Supreme Court, leaders in other branches of government, and commentators in both the academic and popular media; 1.)The role of the President as Commander-in-Chief, 2.) The role of Congress in determining when habeas corpus can be suspended, 3.) The role of the Supreme Court in protecting civil liberties, including the judicial philosophy which should guide the Court in this role, and 4.) The last topic will include my evaluation and personal philosophy, values or ideology about the balance between civil liberties and national security in the context...
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...Habeas Corpus and Civil Liberties Rick Green POL 201 Professor Hass January 21, 2013 Habeas Corpus and Civil Liberties Imagine living life without the rights and liberties that Americans have always enjoyed. There are people all over the world that do not enjoy those rights that were cherished by the Framers of the United States Constitution. Some even say there are people under the jurisdiction of the United States that do not enjoy those rights. The War on Terror has brought a new debate to the forefront of American public discussion; what do we do with detained terrorists? Can the United States prove that they are terrorists? Are detainees afforded the same rights as American citizens and what role does the writ of habeas corpus play? The Supreme Court has decided on a few cases and has answered a few questions, but the debate still rages. Under the precedent set by Ex Parte Quirin and the Military Commissions Act of 2006, combatants captured in the War on Terror are unlawful combatants against the United States and therefore do not have the right of habeas corpus. To begin the argument on how habeas corpus and civil liberties relates to the War on Terror, we must first look at the history and the meaning of habeas corpus. Very simply defined, many people view the writ of habeas corpus, “as the ‘writ of liberty’ which ensured that no person could be detained in prison without being put to trial by a jury of his peers,” (Lobban & Paul, 2010, p.257). This simply...
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...The Role of Habeas Corpus in America Jason S. Pulliam POL201 Cindy Campbell January 21, 2013 One of the founding guarantees that the United States is built upon is its right to fair court system and to be judged for any crime that you are suspected in committing. One of these rules which are considered a writ of habeas corpus is basically a law that guarantees that a person or persons that are charged with a crime in the United States shall be brought in front of a court or judge to have the case heard. And also to protect them against illegal imprisonment for the crime that is suspected to be committed. In 1215 when the Magna Carta was written by Nobles because of the abuse they were taking from the kings of their areas. It was written to set up rules to be governed by and allow the land owners to have rights under said Kings. One of these rules was. “No freemen shall be taken or imprisoned or disseized or exiled or in any way destroyed, nor will we go upon him nor send upon him, except by the lawful judgment of his peers or by the law of the land” (1215). This is considered the earliest mention of the idea for what habeas corpus is built upon. In the United States in the US Constitution and the Bill of Rights amendment V states, “No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in...
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...The War on One’s Individual Liberty and Freedoms Nadira R. Brown POL 201 Professor Dovie Dawson April 15, 2013 The War on One’s Individual Liberty and Freedoms Have you ever felt like a piece of cheese on a mouse trap just waiting for that mouse to come by and eat you; maybe even a fly stuck in a spider’s web hoping that you can get away? Well I am sure if I had been one of those people in the mist of the chaos on September 11, 2001 that had changed the life of all Americans’ across the country. I would have felt no bigger than that piece of cheese or that fly caught in the web. We were victims of a horrific terrorist attack that shook the very core of our foundation as a country. Twelve years later we are still recovering from this horrendous act. We have been fighting the war on terror for ten years. This is one of the longest wars that the United States has ever fought. While the war rages on the boundaries between national security and civil liberties are blurred. “The big threat to America is the way we react to terrorism by throwing away what everybody values about our country—a commitment to human rights” (Kennedy, 2007). Individual liberties and freedoms are important since without them one can be held indefinitely. Habeas corpus does not infringe upon a person’s civil liberties. In addition, habeas corpus allows an individual to question why they are being detained and ensures that detainees have a right to a fair trial; it is considered to be one of the foundations...
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...the policing of the United States government (Jackson, 2010). This resolution and vow by President Bush and Congress to take on the war against terrorism resulted in massive military, law enforcement, and intelligence missions being launched in the Middle East and around other parts of the globe. These military and policing efforts resulted in thousands of detentions of citizens and non-citizens as potential suspects, however, in many cases, individuals being detained did not have formal charges placed against them, and they were merely being held on "suspicion" (Jackson, 2010). The most prominent example of indefinite detention of individuals is seen at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba (GITMO). This pattern of indefinite detention of individuals who in many cases have never been charged with a crime has led to a multitude of legal challenges as prisoners have attempted to evoke their rights of habeas corpus in an attempt to get U.S. Federal Courts to hear their cases (Jackson, 2010). The general meaning of the right of habeas corpus in the U.S. Constitution and its relationship to the protection of other civil liberties: In today's legal definitions, habeas corpus is the right of an individual who is incarcerated to question their dentition before a judge to validate the legitimacy of their being detained (Primus, 2010). Habeas corpus provisions are found throughout...
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...Civil Liberties, Habeas Corpus, and the War on Terror POL 201: American National Civil Liberties, Habeas Corpus, and the War on Terror Habeas Corpus is a term unlikely known to many detainees in Guantanamo Bay. The war on terror has gone from protecting our country from terrorist, to slowly but surely doing onto these detainees what other tyrants were doing before us. Habeas Corpus is a law that was placed in the constitution in order for guarantee that no one would be held prisoner without a trial. According to the constitution the writ to Habeas Corpus is implemented to prevent tyranny and false imprisonments. In the length that our nation has been around there has only been three instances in which the habeas corpus writ was suspended. The first was after the civil war (during the reconstruction) and most recently during the War on Terror. The War on Terror has brought the Habeas Corpus writ into different perspective when it was approved that the writ be suspended for prisoners in Guantanamo Bay (GITMO). The Bush administration went under severe scrutiny after choosing GITMO as a detention center for “enemy combatants/illegal combatants” and suspending the Habeas Corpus writ to them. There had been no legal aid provided so that the detainees could attempt to prove innocence. In the over zealous need to prevent further terrorist attacks in a way we condoned terrorist like ideals. In 2008, the verdict in Boumediene v. Bush the Supreme Court ruled against the Bush administration...
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