The Right Of Habeas Corpus - 1531 Words

The war on terror seems to be a never ending story, especially with the current events such as the beheading of two Americans by the terrorist group ISIS. These are barbaric people,whom have no regards for human life, and they need to be stopped.Which brings me to the issue of habeas corpus, and the rights or civil liberties of detainees who have been deemed enemy combatants. To understand the right of habeas corpus in the context of the war on terror, you must first understand the historical evolution of habeas corpus, including its English and American traditions,examine times in U.S. history when habeas corpus was suspended and their applicability to the present, closely analyze the relevance of habeas corpus to the contemporary U.S.†¦show more content†¦The provision of habeas corpus goes back for centuries. In America, the British colonists believed very strongly in habeas corpus,for it was in England where the Habeas Corpus Act of 1679 was Civil Liberties and War on Terror 3 formalized , and where which the term has been used as far back as the 14th century.(Habeas Corpus,2013). The Constitution of the United States made provisions concerning the writ, because prior to the American Revolution, individuals were unfairly denied this civil liberty.(Habeas Corpus,2013) The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia(Habeas Corpus,2013) states, â€Å" 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 or Invasion the public Safety may require it (Article 1, Section 9). (Habeas Corpus,2013 para 2). Though protested by Chief Justice Roger Taney but upheld by Congress at the beginning of the Civil War in 1861,a suspension of habeas corpus in U.S. history was issued by President Lincoln.(Habeas Corpus,2013) Of course this wasn’t the last time that prisoners’ rights to habeas corpus caused a stir. In the 1950s and 1960s, prisoners