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Article: Habeas Corpus, Writ of
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- Dictionary of American History
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HABEAS CORPUS, WRIT OF
HABEAS CORPUS, WRIT OF,
is a legal procedure by which a court inquires into the lawfulness of a person's confinement. It takes the form of an order from a court or judge requiring the custodian to produce the prisoner in court for a judicial investigation into the validity of the detention. In the words of Chief Justice John Marshall, "The writ of habeas corpus is a high prerogative writ, known to the common law, the great object of which is the liberation of those who may be imprisoned without sufficient cause. It is in the nature of a writ of error, to examine the legality of the commitment" (
Ex Parte Watkins,
1830).
Habeas corpus is celebrated as "the great ...