HC
In times of national stress it is not unusual for people who, otherwise never thought
of the subject - to fear for their “rights.”
When talk concening rights comes up, sooner or later some one will mention the
Latin term habeas corpus. Being in Latin it has a legal ring about it which seems to
demand hushed respect when it is mentioned.
Quite often, too, the actual sayer has no idea of what the term means. It just
seemed like a good time to introduce it into the conversation to push it to new levels of
concern - exactly what being unknown.
Someone will comment that Abraham Lincoln abolished the right of habeas corpus
for the duration of the Civil War. Congress approved his action and only one opponent
disagreed. Chief Justice of the Supreme Court who held that such a suspension was not
within the powers of the president.
Another will point to the imprisonment of all Japanese American citizen by FDR for
the duration of World War II as another infringement on the right of habeas corpus, and
others, will, no doubt, cite other moments when the right was ignored, at least in their
view.
The words habeas corpus mean “you should have the body” Some people hesitate
to say it. The pronouncing guide gives us: hA’bEus kor’-pus and it should be considered as
a term we have integrated into our language and not just a high-sounding foreign
expression used for show off purposes.
In more recent times, during the fifties and sixties, The Supreme Court’s liberal decisions
caused many prisoners to seek release through habeas corpus proceedings. The present
court has limited sucn habeas corpus filings, especially from prisoners on Death Row.
State plainly the writ asks only if the prisoner has been accorded due process, not if
he is guilty. The sole purpose of the write is to free those unlawfully imprisoned. The
Constitution of the United States provides that ”The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus
shall not be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion Invasion the Public Safety may
require it.”
It is not a new idea. Habeas Corpus was first mentioned in the 15th Century in
England and it was formalized in the Habeas Corpus Act of 1679.
One may wonder why the term is used so freely when its application is so limited. I
think the very term is held dear, as it was in Revolutionary times, as a sort of symbol of all
freedoms we enjoy, rather than just one precise area.
A.L.M. June 24, 2002 [c 434wds}
