The power of habeas corpus in America : from the King's Prerogative to the War on Terror

Despite its mystique as the greatest Anglo-American legal protection, habeas corpus's history features power plays, political hypocrisy, ad hoc jurisprudence, and failures in securing individual liberty. This book tells the story of the writ from medieval England to modern America, crediting the rocky history to the writ's very nature as a government power. The book weighs in on habeas's historical controversies - addressing its origins, the relationship between king and parliament, the US Constitution's Suspension Clause, the writ's role in the power struggle between the federal government and the states, and the proper scope of federal habeas for state prisoners and wartime detainees from the Civil War and World War II to the War on Terror. It stresses the importance of liberty and detention policy in making the writ more than a tool of power. The book presents a more nuanced and critical view of the writ's history, showing the dark side of this most revered judicial power. • Presents a comprehensive assessment of American habeas corpus from colonial times to 2012, from the rise of habeas in England up until the founding of the United States • Discusses habeas's rocky history which has been described by other historians, but never all under a unified thesis concerning liberty vs. power • Presents neither liberal nor conservative views but a more nuanced view Contents......Page 7 Acknowledgments......Page 9 Foreword......Page 11 Introduction......Page 15 Part I A History of Power Struggles......Page 23 The Emergence of English Law......Page 25 Writs, Jurisdiction, and Liberation......Page 28 Habeas Corpus Cum Causa......Page 32 Habeas Corpus Ad Subjiciendum......Page 36 2 Parliament and the King......Page 42 Five Knights and Star Chambers......Page 43 Habeas and Parliamentary Power......Page 46 The Habeas Corpus Act of 1679......Page 49 Parliaments Suspension and Arrests......Page 51 The Empires Legal Black Hole......Page 54 American Common Law......Page 58 Colonial Habeas Corpus......Page 63 Writ and Revolution......Page 67 Centralization and the Suspension Clause......Page 72 The Power to Issue the Writ......Page 76 The Rise of American Military Law......Page 81 A Limited Remedy......Page 90 5 Fugitive Slaves and Liberty Laws......Page 92 Enslavement and Liberation......Page 93 Habeas Corpus and States’ Rights......Page 98 6 Suspension and Civil War......Page 105 The President Suspends Habeas Corpus......Page 106 Controversy Over Suspension Power......Page 111 Congress Defers to the Executive......Page 112 Lambdin Milligan and the Persistence of Military Law......Page 120 The Habeas Corpus Act of 1867: Expansion and Retrenchment......Page 125 The Pivotal Case of Young Edward Tarble......Page 127 The End of Eras......Page 132 8 Lynch Mob Justice......Page 134 Chinese Restriction and the Great Writ......Page 137 Progressivism and Punishment......Page 141 Imperialism and Law......Page 145 Jurisdiction and Due Process......Page 146 Certiorari and Appeal......Page 148 The Meaning of Custody......Page 149 Jurisdiction, Lynch Mobs, and De Novo Review......Page 150 Wilsons War and Civil Law......Page 157 The Nazi Saboteurs and Military Commissions......Page 159 Martial Law in Hawaii......Page 165 Judicial Deference to American Concentration Camps......Page 169 10 Federal Activism and Retreat......Page 174 The Warren Years: Habeas and the Fourteenth Amendment......Page 179 The Burger Court: Seeking Out a Balance......Page 183 The Rehnquist Court and Conservative Reform......Page 187 Clintons Betrayal: the Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act......Page 190 A Muzzled Writ and a Bloated Prison System......Page 194 Part II Executive Detention in Post-9/11 America......Page 197 11 Mass Roundups and Ad Hoc Secret Detentions......Page 199 U.S. Citizens and Post-9/11 Detention Policy......Page 205 The American Taliban......Page 206 Yaser Esam Hamdi......Page 209 Jose Padilla......Page 211 A Wartime Presidency and the Rights of the Custodian......Page 212 12 Enemy Aliens and Bush's Prerogative......Page 213 Military Tribunals......Page 214 Geneva Conventions and Other Quaint Human Rights Concerns......Page 217 Guantánamo Bay: the Worst of the Worst......Page 220 Interrogation in the Legal Black Hole......Page 226 Abu Ghraib and the U.S. Torture State......Page 230 13 The Dance of the Court and the Executive......Page 233 The Imperial Executive Strikes Back......Page 238 The Detainee Treatment Act......Page 240 Habeas Corpus Shines Light on the Black Hole......Page 241 Hamdan, the Military Commissions Act, and Boumediene V. Bush......Page 242 Hamdan v. Rumsfeld......Page 243 The Military Commissions Act of 2006......Page 246 The Continuing Struggle......Page 248 After the MCA......Page 250 Boumediene v. Bush......Page 253 14 Obama's Legal Black Hole......Page 258 Candidate Obama, Concerned Civil Libertarian......Page 259 President Obama, Custodian......Page 263 Wavering on Guantánamo, Military Commissions, and Indefinite Detention......Page 265 Worse than Guantánamo......Page 271 “Ordinary Renditioning,” Show Trials, Human Rights Abuses......Page 273 Habeas Corpus Betrayed Again......Page 278 Normalizing Unlimited Executive Power......Page 281 Part III Custody and Liberty......Page 285 15 The Great Writ's Paradox of Power and Liberty......Page 287 16 A Remedy in Search of a Principle......Page 297 17 The Modern Detention State and the Future of the Writ......Page 307 Unchecked Brutality......Page 310 The Narrow Boundaries of Discussion......Page 313 Habeas and Detention Reform: Substantive Rights......Page 315 Moral Individualism and Procedural Rights......Page 317 Jurisdictional Radicalism and Habeas Corpus Federalism......Page 321 The Power of the Writ......Page 325 Appendix A Analysis of Hirabayashi v. United States......Page 329 Appendix B Analysis of Korematsu v. United States......Page 334 Appendix C Analysis of Ex parte Endo......Page 341 Appendix D Analysis of Rumsfeld v. Padilla......Page 345 Appendix E Analysis of Hamdi v. Rumsfeld......Page 350 Appendix F Analysis of Rasul v. Bush......Page 363 Appendix G Analysis of Hamdan v. Rumsfeld......Page 369 Appendix H Analysis of Boumediene v. Bush......Page 389 Selected Cases......Page 405 Historical Term Chart......Page 407 Selected Bibliography......Page 413 Index......Page 419 Contents 7 Acknowledgments 9 Foreword 11 Introduction 15 Part I A History of Power Struggles 23 1 Common Law, Royal Courts 25 The Emergence of English Law 25 Writs, Jurisdiction, and Liberation 28 Habeas Corpus Cum Causa 32 Habeas Corpus Ad Subjiciendum 36 2 Parliament and the King 42 Five Knights and Star Chambers 43 Habeas and Parliamentary Power 46 The Habeas Corpus Act of 1679 49 Parliaments Suspension and Arrests 51 The Empires Legal Black Hole 54 3 The Americanization of Habeas 58 American Common Law 58 Colonial Habeas Corpus 63 Writ and Revolution 67 4 Constitutional Counterrevolution 72 Centralization and the Suspension Clause 72 The Power to Issue the Writ 76 The Rise of American Military Law 81 A Limited Remedy 90 5 Fugitive Slaves and Liberty Laws 92 Enslavement and Liberation 93 Habeas Corpus and States’ Rights 98 6 Suspension and Civil War 105 The President Suspends Habeas Corpus 106 Controversy Over Suspension Power 111 Congress Defers to the Executive 112 7 The Writ Reconstructed 120 Lambdin Milligan and the Persistence of Military Law 120 The Habeas Corpus Act of 1867: Expansion and Retrenchment 125 The Pivotal Case of Young Edward Tarble 127 The End of Eras 132 8 Lynch Mob Justice 134 Chinese Restriction and the Great Writ 137 Progressivism and Punishment 141 Imperialism and Law 145 Jurisdiction and Due Process 146 Certiorari and Appeal 148 The Meaning of Custody 149 Jurisdiction, Lynch Mobs, and De Novo Review 150 9 The Writ in World War 157 Wilsons War and Civil Law 157 The Nazi Saboteurs and Military Commissions 159 Martial Law in Hawaii 165 Judicial Deference to American Concentration Camps 169 10 Federal Activism and Retreat 174 The Warren Years: Habeas and the Fourteenth Amendment 179 The Burger Court: Seeking Out a Balance 183 The Rehnquist Court and Conservative Reform 187 Clintons Betrayal: the Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act 190 A Muzzled Writ and a Bloated Prison System 194 Part II Executive Detention in Post-9/11 America 197 11 Mass Roundups and Ad Hoc Secret Detentions 199 U.S. Citizens and Post-9/11 Detention Policy 205 The American Taliban 206 Yaser Esam Hamdi 209 Jose Padilla 211 A Wartime Presidency and the Rights of the Custodian 212 12 Enemy Aliens and Bush's Prerogative 213 Military Tribunals 214 Geneva Conventions and Other Quaint Human Rights Concerns 217 Guantánamo Bay: the Worst of the Worst 220 Interrogation in the Legal Black Hole 226 Abu Ghraib and the U.S. Torture State 230 13 The Dance of the Court and the Executive 233 The Imperial Executive Strikes Back 238 The Detainee Treatment Act 240 Habeas Corpus Shines Light on the Black Hole 241 Hamdan, the Military Commissions Act, and Boumediene V. Bush 242 Hamdan v. Rumsfeld 243 The Military Commissions Act of 2006 246 The Continuing Struggle 248 After the MCA 250 Boumediene v. Bush 253 14 Obama's Legal Black Hole 258 Candidate Obama, Concerned Civil Libertarian 259 President Obama, Custodian 263 Wavering on Guantánamo, Military Commissions, and Indefinite Detention 265 Worse than Guantánamo 271 “Ordinary Renditioning,” Show Trials, Human Rights Abuses 273 Habeas Corpus Betrayed Again 278 Normalizing Unlimited Executive Power 281 Part III Custody and Liberty 285 15 The Great Writ's Paradox of Power and Liberty 287 16 A Remedy in Search of a Principle 297 17 The Modern Detention State and the Future of the Writ 307 Unchecked Brutality 310 The Narrow Boundaries of Discussion 313 Habeas and Detention Reform: Substantive Rights 315 Moral Individualism and Procedural Rights 317 Jurisdictional Radicalism and Habeas Corpus Federalism 321 The Power of the Writ 325 Appendix A Analysis of Hirabayashi v. United States 329 Appendix B Analysis of Korematsu v. United States 334 Appendix C Analysis of Ex parte Endo 341 Appendix D Analysis of Rumsfeld v. Padilla 345 Appendix E Analysis of Hamdi v. Rumsfeld 350 Appendix F Analysis of Rasul v. Bush 363 Appendix G Analysis of Hamdan v. Rumsfeld 369 Appendix H Analysis of Boumediene v. Bush 389 Selected Cases 405 Historical Term Chart 407 Selected Bibliography 413 Index 419 "Despite its mystique as the greatest Anglo-American legal protection, habeas corpus provides a history featuring opportunistic power plays, political hypocrisy, ad hoc jurisprudence, and many failures in effectively securing individual liberty. The Power of Habeas Corpus in America tells the story of the writ from medieval England to modern America, crediting the rocky history to the writ's very nature as a government power. The book weighs in on habeas's historical controversies - addressing its origins, the relationship between king and parliament, the U.S. Constitution's Suspension Clause, the writ's role in the power struggle between the federal government and the states, and the proper scope of federal habeas for state prisoners and for wartime detainees from the Civil War and World War II to the War on Terror. The concluding chapters stress the importance of liberty and detention policy in making the writ more than a tool of power. Taken as a whole, the book presents a more nuanced and critical view of the writ's history, showing the dark side of this most revered judicial power"--Page [i] Despite its mystique as the greatest Anglo-American legal protection, habeas corpus's history features opportunistic power plays, political hypocrisy, ad hoc jurisprudence, and many failures in effectively securing individual liberty. The Power of Habeas Corpus in America tells the story of the writ from medieval England to modern America, crediting the rocky history to the writ's very nature as a government power. The book weighs in on habeas's historical controversies - addressing its origins, the relationship between king and parliament, the U.S. Constitution's Suspension Clause, the writ's role in the power struggle between the federal government and the states, and the proper scope of federal habeas for state prisoners and for wartime detainees from the Civil War and World War II to the War on Terror. The concluding chapters stress the importance of liberty and detention policy in making the writ more than a tool of power. Taken as a whole, the book presents a more nuanced and critical view of the writ's history, showing the dark side of this most revered judicial power.--Amazon.com