Lost in the Fog of "War"?
Habeas Corpus Act
1679
An act for the better securing the liberty of the subject, and for prevention of imprisonments beyond the seas.
WHEREAS great delays have been used by sheriffs, gaolers and other officers, to whose custody, any of the King's subjects have been committed for criminal or supposed criminal matters, in making returns of writs of habeas corpus to them directed, by standing out an alias and pluries habeas corpus, and sometimes more, and by other shifts to avoid their yielding obedience to such writs, contrary to their duty and the known laws of the land, whereby many of the King's subjects have been and hereafter may be long detained in prison, in such cases where by law they are bailable, to their great charges and vexation.
- II. For the prevention whereof, and the more speedy relief of all persons imprisoned for any such criminal or supposed criminal matters;
- (2) be it enacted by the King's most excellent majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the lords spiritual and temporal, and commons, in this present parliament assembled, and by the authority thereof. That whensoever any person or persons shall bring any habeas corpus directed unto any sheriff or sheriffs, gaoler, minister or other person whatsoever, for any person in his or their custody, and the said writ shall be served upon the said officer, or left at the gaol or prison with any of the under-officers, under-keepers or deputy of the said officers or keepers, that the said officer or officers, his or their under-officers, under-keepers or deputies, shall within three days after the service thereof as aforesaid (unless the commitment aforesaid were for treason or felony, plainly and specially expressed in the warrant of commitment) upon payment or tender of the charges of bringing the said prisoner, to be ascertained by the judge or court that awarded the same, and endorsed upon the said writ, not exceeding twelve pence per mile, and upon security given by his own bond to pay the charges of carrying back the prisoner, if he shall be remanded by the court or judge to which he shall be brought according to the true intent of this present act, and that he will not make any escape by the way, make return of such writ;
- (3) and bring or cause to be brought the body of the party so committed or restrained, unto or before the lord chancellor, or lord keeper of the great seal of England for the time being, or the judges or barons of the said court from which the said writ shall issue, or unto and before such other person or persons before whom the said writ is made returnable, according to the command thereof;
- (4) and shall then likewise certify the true causes of his detainer or imprisonment, unless the commitment of the said party be in any place beyond the distance of twenty miles from the place or places where such court or person is or shall be residing; and if beyond the distance of twenty miles, and not above one hundred miles, then within the space of ten days, and if beyond the distance of one hundred miles, then within the space of twenty days, after such delivery aforesaid, and not longer.
- III. And to the intent that no sheriff, gaoler or other officer may pretend ignorance of the import of such writ.
- (2) be it enacted by the authority aforesaid, That all such writs shall be marked in this manner, Per statutum tricesimo primo Caroli secundi Regis, and shall be signed by the person that awards the same;
- (3) and if any person or persons shall be or stand committed or detained as aforesaid, for any crime, unless for felony or treason plainly expressed in the warrant of commitment, in the vacation-time, and out of term, it shall and may be lawful to and for the person or persons so committed or detained (other than persons convict or in execution of legal process) or any one on his or their behalf, to appeal or complain to the lord chancellor or lord keeper, or any one of his Majesty's justices, either of the one bench or of the other, or the barons of the exchequer of the degree of the coif;
- (4) and the said lord chancellor, lord keeper, justices or barons or any of them, upon view of the copy or copies of the warrant or warrants of commitment and detainer, or otherwise upon oath made that such copy or copies were denied to be given by such person or persons in whose custody the prisoner or prisoners is or are detained, are hereby authorized and required, upon request made in writing by such person or persons, or any on his, her, or their behalf, attested and subscribed by two witnesses who were present at the delivery of the same, to award and grant an habeas corpus under the seal of such court whereof he shall then be one of the judges,
- (5) to be directed to the officer or officers in whose custody the party so committed or detained shall be, returnable immediate before the said lord chancellor or lord keeper or such justice, baron or any other justice or baron of the degree of the coif of any of the said courts;
- (6) and upon service thereof as aforesaid, the officer or officers, his or their under-officer or under-officers, under-keeper or under-keepers, or their deputy in whose custody the party is so committed or detained, shall within the times respectively before limited, bring such prisoner or prisoners before the said lord chancellor or lord keeper, or such justices, barons or one of them, before whom the said writ is made returnable, and in case of his absence before any other of them, with the return of such writ, and the true causes of the commitment and detainer;
- (7) and thereupon within two days after the party shall be brought before them, the said lord chancellor or lord keeper, or such justice or baron before whom the prisoner shall be brought as aforesaid, shall discharge the said prisoner from his imprisonment, taking his or their recognizance, with one or more surety or sureties, in any sum according to their discretions, having regard to the quality of the prisoner and nature of the offense, for his or their appearance in the court of the King's bench the term following, or at the next assizes, sessions or general gaol-delivery of and for such county, city or place where the commitment was, or where the offense was committed, or in such other court where the said offense is properly cognizable, as the case shall require, and then shall certify the said writ with the return thereof, and the said recognizance or recognizances unto the said court where such appearance is to be made;
- (8) unless it shall appear unto the said lord chancellor or lord keeper or justice or justices, or baron or barons, that the party so committed is detained upon a legal process, order or warrant, out of some court that hath jurisdiction of criminal matters, or by some warrant signed and sealed with the hand and seal of any of the said justices or barons, or some justice or justices of the peace, for such matters or offenses for the which by the law the prisoner is not bailable. [...]
posted by Vigilante at 10/18/2006 08:23:00 AM
19 Moderated Comments:
Our system is looking more and more like fascism here. I think it may be time to organize with a lot of free speech , and try to do something to change the awful direction.
Obviously all hell is about to break loose. We are on the verge of crises, or rather in a crises now.
This should lead to Bush`s downfall and soon. If not a nightmare ensues.
Article 1, Section 9 of the US Constitution says,
"The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it."
Have we been invaded? If not, are we in rebellion?
I think they have done it in preparation of a possible rebellion.
They may not represent the American people really any more, but special interest of big money people.
Also I would say that if Bush will do what he has done to the Iraq people , who knows what he may do to us.?
Any one who will do one thing to one person will do it to another, and I imagine that old saying applies to cultures also.
This guy has madman written all over him.~!~ He is a nut.~!~
He could turn on us next.
I actually think he has , for his world wide special interest club of handlers.
The have in essence gotten rid of the, soldiers quartered in the home thing ,in the constitution also , in effect , when they ditched the posse comitatus act , and put a hand picked General from the white house and Congress in charge of the internal U.S. security ,for the first time in our history.
This after gutting out Fema which was what was supposed to happen in an emergency.
This has all been done in the last 5 years.
I am not a conspiracy person.
But what the hell does all this add up to.?
I think it is all to purpose, a kind of Realpolitik by these nasty politicos for what they want, in other words crooked money deals and maybe some kind of religious crackpot stuff thrown in also.
Any body heard Bakers comment on a certain group in the Mideast that live in Israel.?
This Baker may be in the process of starting a larger war. This guy is a super spook religious wacko also.
There is something very corrupt going on and exploitative.
I think the corporatacracy people want to rule us here . First they must humiliate us though and destroy the good aspects of who we are.
I never thought I would see the day that the American People would allow this odious little man, push the Military Commissions Act into Law. I am travelling to the US next month, I am clearly at risk of being picked up and subjected to interrogation upto the limit of 'mental and physical trauma' because I oppose Bush and Blair on their foreign policy. Please visit my site and give a US perspective. Our news simply reported the Act's passing and not its implications.Blair is going please help Bush on his way in the Mid Term Elections.
If this were a dictatorship, it'd be a heck of a lot easier, just so long as I'm the dictator.
CNN
Guthrum, I speak to you today from the land of the unfree, the land of torture, the land of the rubber stamp congress, the land governed by men - from occupied America.
(That's only a slightly hyperbolic statement.)
There's no question that Bush and his 'enablers' have removed yet one more speed-bump from the road to perdition for this once great country governed once by a Constitution.
Habeas Corpus has been in our common law for three centuries and in our Original Constitution.
It was weakened by the Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798, and Habeas corpus was suspended in 1861, (in some states) during the American Civil War, and In the early 1870s (in nine counties of one state) as part of federal civil rights action against the Ku Klux Klan under the 1870 Force Act and 1871 Ku Klux Klan Act. Other than that, it has been the law of the land.
Bush will stop at nothing to elevate his sorry-ass fiasco in Iraquagmire to the status of a war for national security. There is literally nothing he will not sacrifice to save his ass.
As he has said,
"You never know what your history is going to be like until long after you're gone."
There is nothing he will not arrest, torture, invade, bomb, pervert, fabricate, classify or misrepresent to delay that reckoning with history.
Habeas corpus is only this week's casualty. who's to say what's next?
The saddest thing is that many of my fellow Americans think that they can be 'saved' from this act of treason by their Supreme Court, just like some of them think out disastrous foreign policy can be 'saved' by our men and women in the armed services.
The reality is our democracy can only be saved at the ballot box.
All together now: say good-bye to habeus corpus. Hello to lettres de cachet.
I would suggest Vigalante that you may be mistaken in your appraisal of our Democracy being saved by the ballot box.
I admit this idea sounds romantic, but I just don`t think it is realistic.
Also this appraisal would seem to be in direct opposition of what is really transpiring as to who really controls politics in the U.S.
Both the so called party's seem to be controlled now by the same negative forces.
Time will prove this out one way or another, but in my opinion our Democracy is lost, and in its old form will not be back.
I think it is a mistake to try and suggest that we can make this system with its overarching dysfunction , work again. It is really designed for the 18th century.
There are creative ways to move ahead.
I am afraid if people adopt your stay the course attitude , we will doom ourselves and spiral into a worse police state , regardless of so called ballot boxes, which these days look more like telescreens, ala 1984.
I have yet to see Skip win a responsive compliment. That's because he doesn't get it.
This is the United States of America, not the United Technates of America.
In the US of A, the holy grail is our CONSTITUTION. Preservation of our Constitution against all enemies foreign and domestic is what all our government officers swear to. It is what the our oath of allegiance is worn to. Once the Constitution is abrogated, what else is there to fight for? Hummers and Super Bowls?
If Sievert wants technates, he should report to Yangon and take up residence!
But Vigilante, assuming the US of A has a new set of legislators after the next election, there's still the question of the Habeas Corpus having been struck down.
Won't change anything unless of course they prepare and add an ammendment striking out what's already been struck down.
Ugh!
George Bush will not be impeached and the American people will not rebel against his imperial leadership. They are tired. They are tired of corruption, in-fighting, back-biting, wars, deviance, prevarication, terrorism, torture, a dying middle class and an enriched upper class. Sadly,because they are tired does not mean they will do any more than vote for change, and only a small number will do that. I am afraid many have been filled with a sad and lazy despair......There will be no demonstrations in the streets a la the Hispanic community fighting for immigration laws or students picketing the White House during the Vietnam Era......
I'm learning.
I fear that in Britain, we are about to ditch habeus corpus for Napolionic law plus human rights.
Maybe i'm wrong?
Haven`t a clue to your United technates of America , Food Blogger.
I told you before that you are in dreamland. Your post is unrelated to the movement I am involved with , and I truly consider you somewhat ignorant or willingly ignorant now . There is no such thing as a United Technates of America.
As far as the constitution and the Holy Grail , I don`t think you realize yet that our Constitution is no longer operating.
Will it in the future in this kind of system we have now.?
I do not think so.
No one will ever accuse you of being a creative thinker if you persist in your diatribe of alternative methods, and certainly you seem behind the 8 ball as to your slavish devotion to our current crooked political system and its machinations.
I am afraid that people that believe in the past more than the future may end up sinking us, and to me you kind of represent the ignorant proles in the 1984 book by Orwell, who get all flustered during the 2 minute hate period ,and start yelling at the telescreen, at who they are directed to yell at.
Sievert says:
I think it is a mistake to try and suggest that we can make this system with its overarching dysfunction , work again. It is really designed for the 18th century.
It is a mistake to rely on the Constitution as a solution. It, as has been said often enough, guarantees only a less worse form of government than all the other forms, including what ever form it turns out that you favor. But, in order for it to function passably well, it requires people in office with passable integrity, courage, conscience and conscientiousnes as well as voters with the same qualifications. Republicans - officeholders as well as voters - have a six-year track record of not measuring up to this criteria. Voters worth their salt will acknowledge this in a couple of weeks or so, and toss the GOP deck chairs into the brine.
Mad Mike says
George Bush will not be impeached and the American people will not rebel against his imperial leadership.
The lustre is off the golden goal of impeachment, once we note the probable line of succession. But there is more than one way to skin a pig, especially if you have more than one in mind. (Expect a longer answer Mike: you have it coming.)
I agree with Mike in that there is no evidence that a huge wave of discontent will lead to the impeachment of Bush after the mid-terms. I qualify that with one exception, if Iraq completely melts down with the
Iraqi "government" falling apart, the Kurds breaking away, and the Shiite militias go head on with US forces effectively pushing us out of Iraq the fallout could well piss enough people off leading to Bush's impeachment. Especially if we have an Iraqi version of the last helicopter out of Saigon being shown on the major news networks. Will any of this happen? Beats the hell out of me but I'm hard pressed to see any sunnier outcome of the current situation.
When Vigilante writes,
There's no question that Bush and his 'enablers' have removed yet one more speed-bump from the road to perdition ...
does he have in mind Enabling Act (Ermächtigungsgesetz in German) which was passed by Germany's parliament (the Reichstag) on March 23, 1933? It was the second major step after the Reichstag Fire Decree through which the Nazis obtained dictatorial powers using largely legal means. The Act enabled Chancellor Adolf Hitler and his cabinet to enact laws without the participation of the Reichstag.
Star, I do not easily read minds of others, particularly on the 'Net. Blogs-4-Food can answer for him(her)self, but he(she) seems to have a mano-a-mano thing going with Skip.
But Star, you seem to be more concerned with the politics of the Blogosphere than the realpoliticsphere. If your concerns are for your image in the former, let me do what I can to dispatch those. I've been to your attractive site quite often, just for the kick it gives me to see a real artiste at work. Most times, I do not say much because there is not to much to say about excellence when it is achieved. Except to say, don't change a thing!
As a segue back to the subject at hand, with a name like yours, why have we not seen a pertinent post by yourself, slapped up on the wall? Perhaps a comment on how can it be that habeas corpus is not regarded by the goons in the White House as stare decisis?
On Torture:
The administration has not, to my knowledge, addressed what to do with innocent people who have been subjected to torture warrants. The real issue isn't torture — it's accountability. Torture has occurred in U.S. military and intelligence operations worldwide. The DOJ's torture warrants and Bush's latest detainee bill are both designed to procure one result: the immunization of the torturers for their acts.
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