Habeas Corpus and the War on Terror
Habeas Corpus and the War on Terror
Ian T. Snyder
POL 201
Pearl Galano
October 20th 2012
Habeas corpus is considered to be one of the most fundamental guarantees of personal liberty we have enjoyed as a country since the inception of our Constitution. However, questions have arisen regarding the proper use of habeas corpus and have been brought into focus in the past decade. In the years since the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, hundreds of people have been detained by the United States government as part of its war on terror. Most of these detainees face indefinite detention and have neither been charged with a crime nor afforded prisoner of war status. Habeas corpus serves to protect citizens against arbitrary arrest, torture, and extrajudicial killings and is a fundamental personal liberty guaranteed by our Constitution and cannot be suspended based on that fact. Habeas corpus (or writ of Habeas corpus ) is a judicially enforceable order issued by a court of law to a prison official ordering that a prisoner be brought to the court so it can be determined whether or not that prisoner had been lawfully imprisoned and, if not, whether he or she should be released from custody. The right of habeas corpus is the constitutionally bestowed right of a person to present evidence before a court that he or she has been wrongly imprisoned. The rights of writs of habeas corpus are granted in Article I of the Constitution, which
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."( Habeas Corpus in times of Emergency; Iowa State Review) A Habeas Corpus petition is a petition filed with a court by a person who objects to his own or another 's imprisonment. The petition must show that the court ordering the imprisonment made a legal or factual error. The right of habeas corpus is the constitutionally bestowed right of a person to
Ian T. Snyder
POL 201
Pearl Galano
October 20th 2012
Habeas corpus is considered to be one of the most fundamental guarantees of personal liberty we have enjoyed as a country since the inception of our Constitution. However, questions have arisen regarding the proper use of habeas corpus and have been brought into focus in the past decade. In the years since the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, hundreds of people have been detained by the United States government as part of its war on terror. Most of these detainees face indefinite detention and have neither been charged with a crime nor afforded prisoner of war status. Habeas corpus serves to protect citizens against arbitrary arrest, torture, and extrajudicial killings and is a fundamental personal liberty guaranteed by our Constitution and cannot be suspended based on that fact. Habeas corpus (or writ of Habeas corpus ) is a judicially enforceable order issued by a court of law to a prison official ordering that a prisoner be brought to the court so it can be determined whether or not that prisoner had been lawfully imprisoned and, if not, whether he or she should be released from custody. The right of habeas corpus is the constitutionally bestowed right of a person to present evidence before a court that he or she has been wrongly imprisoned. The rights of writs of habeas corpus are granted in Article I of the Constitution, which
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."( Habeas Corpus in times of Emergency; Iowa State Review) A Habeas Corpus petition is a petition filed with a court by a person who objects to his own or another 's imprisonment. The petition must show that the court ordering the imprisonment made a legal or factual error. The right of habeas corpus is the constitutionally bestowed right of a person to
References: 2. Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, 344 F.Supp.2d 152 (D.D.C.,2004), rev’d 413 F.3d 33 (D.C. Cir. 2005), cert. granted 2005 U.S. LEXIS 8222 (Nov. 7, 2005). 3. Habeas Corpus in Times of Emergency: A Historical and Comparative View Brian Farrell University of Iowa College of Law 4. The War and the Writ Habeas corpus and security in an age of terrorism by Jonathan Shaw January-February 2009 (Harvard Magazine) 5. U.S.-Freed ‘Combatant’ Is Returned to Saudi Arabia, L.A. TIMES, Oct. 12, 2004, at A8; Jerry Markon, Father Denounces Hamdi’s Imprisonment; Son Posed No Threat to U.S., He Says, WASH. POST, Oct. 13, 2004, at A4. 6. Terrorism, the Laws of War, and the Constitution – Policy Archive www.policyarchive.org/handle/10207/bitstreams/11854.pdf 7. The President 's Power to Detain “Enemy Combatants” www.pegc.us/archive/Journals/wuerth_Cinn_power_to_detain.pdf