Digital Commons Network^™

Habeas Corpus In The Anglo-American Legal Tradition, Amanda L. Tyler

Amanda L Tyler

The habeas corpus provision in the United States Constitution, known as the Suspension Clause, has long confounded courts and scholars as to its intended purpose. The wording of the Clause seems to promise the availability of "[t]he Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus" - or, at least preclude the United States Congress from undermining that privilege where it is otherwise available unless Congress takes the dramatic step of enacting suspension legislation. The very same Clause, recognizing the extraordinary nature of suspension, precludes the legislature from adopting such a state of affairs except in the face of rare and dire …