Habeas corpus

A citizen's right to habeas corpus is her right to challenge the government to present a reason for her criminal or civil detention. This right was first secured by British citizens against their King with the signing of the Magna Carta, a document upon which all Western democracy is based, and upon which the Founding Fathers of the United States of America heavily relied.

In Latin, the phrase translates roughly as, "that one ought to have the body."

The right to habeas corpus is phrased as a writ, making reference to the arcane system of writs by which legal claims were adjudicated prior to the 1900s (e.g., the "writ of replevin," or "writ of mandamus"). Thus, the right is referred to as "the writ of habeas corpus," or, "the Great Writ."

The United States Constitution enshrines the right in Article I, Section 9, the Suspension Clause, which outlines under which highly specified conditions the Writ may be suspended. While the Writ is not specifically granted to United States citizens, the Founders intended, and the Supreme Court agrees, that it was not explicitly mentioned because it was not perceived as necessary, the Writ being so fundamental to even British government at the time of the Founding.

United States Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez disagrees with the Supreme Court on this issue, believing that there is no expressed grant of habeas corpus in the Constitution.