In law, habeas corpus is a writ ordering a person to be brought before a court or judge. The term is particularly applied to a writ so issued so that the court may ascertain whether the person's detention is lawful. From the time of the Magna Charta imprisonment at the discretion of any person has been unlawful in England, but for long the royal prerogative was so indefinite and the power of the crown so great that persons were frequently detained in custody at the discretion of the crown. It was not until the 17th century that the Habeas Corpus Act, passed in 1679 provided the great remedy for the violation of personal liberty by the writ of habeas corpus ad subjiciendum (that you have the body to answer).
The provisions of the act may be stated generally thus : 1. That on complaint or request in writing, by, or on behalf of, any person committed and charged with any crime (unless treason, felony, etc, expressed in the warrant), the lord-chancellor, or any of the judges shall award a habeas corpus for such prisoner, and shall discharge the party, if bailable, upon security being given to appear and answer to the accusation. 2. The writ shall be returned, and the prisoner brought up within a limited time, not exceeding twenty days. 3. No person once delivered by habeas corpus shall be recommitted for the same offence. 4. Every person committed for treason or felony may insist on being tried at the next assizes, or admitted to bail, and if not tried at the second assizes or sessions, he shall be discharged from the imprisonment. The writ may be applied for by persons confined in any part of England, or Jersey and Guernsey. As the writ originally had to do solely with crimes, the statute 56 George III. cap. c. was passed, which extended the writ to other than criminal cases.
The result was that no person could be illegally confined in England for any length of time, since some friend could always apply for a habeas corpus, which, on a good prima facie case, would be issued. If the party was confined under recognized authority, as a child by a parent, this fact had to be stated.
In times of great political excitement, and suspected treasonable conspiracies, the operation of the Habeas Corpus Act has been occasionally suspended, and during the early 21st century under the pretext of 'combatting terrorism' exceptions made to it. But such suspension does not enable any one to imprison without cause or valid pretext for so doing. It only prevents persons who are committed from being bailed, tried, or discharged during the suspension, leaving to the committing magistrate all the responsibility attending on illegal imprisonment.
In Scotland similar protection of the liberty of the subject was secured by the Wrongous Imprisonment Act of 1701. The English statute was copied in the United States without essential change.
In the United States habeas corpus was suspended on July the 5th, 1861. Attorney-GeneralBates gave an opinion in favour of the President's power to declare martial law and suspend the writ of habeas corpus. A special session of Congress approved this opinion. Thereafter many arbitrary arrests were made, arousing much indignation. On September the 24th, 1862, the suspension was made general by the President so far as it might affect persons arrested by military authority for disloyal practices. An act of Congress, on March the 3rd, 1863, again authorized the suspension of the writ by the President in cases of prisoners of war, deserters, those resisting drafts and offenders against the military or naval service. The arrest of Vallandigham, in Ohio, and of Milligan, in Indiana, caused great excitement. The case of the latter being brought before the Supreme Court of the Union, that body decided that Congress could not give to military commissions the power of trial and conviction, and that the suspension of the privilege of habeas corpus did not suspend the writ itself. In the case of the Ku-Klux rebellions there was a brief suspension of habeas corpus in 1871. Research Habeas Corpus
Milligan's Case was a legal case decided by the US Supreme Court in 1866. This case involved the right of a citizen to demand a writ of habeas corpus under particular circumstances. In October, 1864, during the American Civil War, Milligan was brought before a military commission convened at Indianapolis by General Hovey. He was tried and sentenced to death for participation in rebellious schemes. By the Habeas Corpus Act of Congress, 1863, lists were to be furnished in each State of persons suspected of violating national laws. But any such persons, arrested and no indictment found against them by the CircuitCourt, should be freed on petition verified by oath. Milligan was not indicted by the CircuitCourt. He objected to the authority of the military commission and sued for a writ of habeas corpus in the CircuitCourt. There was a division of opinion and the case came before the Supreme Court in 1866. That body decided that the writ should be issued and the prisoner discharged. Regarding the military commission, it was maintained that such power of erecting military jurisdictions remote from the seat of war was not vested in Congress, and that it could not be exercised in this particular case; that the prisoner, a civilian, was exempt from the laws of war and could only be tried by a jury; and finally, that the writ of habeas corpus could not be suspended constitutionally, though the privilege of that writ might be. Research Milligan's Case
Spike Milligan (real name Terence Allan Milligan) was a British comedywriter, broadcaster and actor. He was born in 1918 at Ahmadnagar, India and died in 2002. Spike Milligan was famous for his bizare comedy, first achieving fame with the 1950's British radio programme The Goon Show in which he starred with Peter Sellers, Harry Secombe, and Michael Bentine and also wrote the scripts for the show. Serving in the army during the Second World War, Spike Milligan was traumatised by the horrors of war, and this trauma manifested itself in depression he suffered from for the rest of his life. A friend of Prince Charles, who was a devoted fan, Spike Milligan was awarded an honorary knighthood in recognition of the pleasure he had brought so many people in 2001 by Prince Charles. Research Spike Milligan
Family Sins is a drama starring Kirstie Alley, Deanna Milligan, Kathleen Wilhoite, Will Patton, Kevin McNulty, David Richmond-Peck and Erin Karpluk in a story based on a true story about a seemingly ordinary, respectable American single mother who in reality is an evil, depraved, thief, arsonist and kidnapper. Family Sins was directed by Graeme Clifford in 2004. Research Family Sins
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