Habeas corpus is the right of a prisoner to challenge the legality of their detention.Lect Law: Definition of Habeas Corpus It is both an order and the name of a legal proceeding.HabeasCorpus.net: History of Habeas Corpus

The first mention of the writ of habeas corpus was in the Magna Carta (1215).HabeasCorpus.net: History of Habeas Corpus Originally an order by the King, habeas corpus evolved into a "prerogative writ" initiated by the prisoner.HabeasCorpus.net: History of Habeas Corpus

Habeas corpus was brought to the United States by English colonists.HabeasCorpus.net: History of Habeas Corpus After the American Revolution the right of habeas corpus was incorporated directly into the Constitution at Article One, Section 9: "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."Cornell Law School: Annotated Constitution

A habeas corpus proceeding determines whether a prisoner was sentenced by a competent court with the jurisdiction and authority to impose judgment.Lect Law: Habeas Proceedings The habeas corpus proceeding challenges the confinement itself, not the underlying merit of a prisoner's case.HabeasCorpus.net: History of Habeas Corpus

"Freedom of the person under the protection of the habeas corpus I deem (one of the) essential principles of our government."—Thomas JeffersonUniversity of Virginia: Thomas Jefferson Archives

"HABEAS CORPUS. A writ by which a man may be taken out of jail when confined for the wrong crime."—Ambrose BierceGutenberg.org: The Devil's Dictionary

• James Madison University: Papers of James Madison

• ACLU: Historical Timeline of Significant Habeas Corpus Events

• Habeas Corpus Net: History of Habeas Protection

• About.Com: History of Suspensions of Habeas Corpus

• Congressional Reporting Service: Review of Enemy Combatant Habeas Corpus Challenges

• Cornell University School of Law: Supreme Court Collection

• Supreme Court: Recent Decisions

• Oyez: Audio of Supreme Court Decisions and Debate

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