Semi-weekly standard. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1853-18??, 1864-08-26

that act relates solely to the writ ofad ciendam
in favor of prisoners confined on such aceoune-
The eases Of illegal confinement arising out OF the
domestic and other civil relations of life not beng
occasions for temptations to royal oppression, were
either so few or otherwise so easily redressed by
ordinary actions Of law, or by application 70 the
Ecclesiastical Courts or Courts of Chancery by the
WI it de hORins replgiGndO, that no real grievance
was felt as to them. The people OF England con-
sidered themseTVts amply protected against unjust
Imprisonment after they had transferred the keys
of the Jail from the King to the Judges. The Amer
lean colonies springing into being about this time,
had, almost from their settlement been accustomed
to enjoy the protection afforded by the Status OF
Charles Hurd 1866 seq And so had the States
after the revolution and before the adoption of the
Federal Consultation. Phe Statute was regarded |
as in full force in this State for more than sixty
years before the revelation. Rev. Stat Oh. 90. !
Rev. Code of 1890, Oh. B; 8, 3-ib. p W.
When, therefore, the trainers of the Federal Con-
stuton assembled for their labor in 1885, they must
have been we'll acquainted with the act of 81 Charles
and were, doubtless, with the previous English his
tory which related to the act. Having lnaugurateo
the revolution upon the, basis of protecting the
rights of Englishmen in America, it was natural to
expect that their constitutions would embrace, as
far as practicable the true principles of the govern
ment from which they bad just separated. This
was done They were aware of the security afford
ed by the 6a6eas corpus acts of Charles; and they
were also aware that that act certain vital por-
tons of it, had been temporarily annulled In Eng
land But as the Federal government could not be
formed until after the adoption of the Constitution,
aud there could be no oct Of Congress till after the
ssdsRaOp the language, comforting the power to sps-
pend the writ was OF Deoeaeity to he dl4er-
ent from what it would have been, had the sub
stance OF the act of Charles, or. theportlon OF 1t
which had been suspended in England, been incoT- 4
porated in the Constitution. 1t would not have
conveyed the proper idea, if the language bad been
1.-THE writ of ha6eas corpus shall not be suspended,
unless &C., for there were many wrts OF that name;
and the power so expressed had embraced them all.
Nor would the proper idea have been conveyed if
the language had been, THE act securing the writ
of hd6eas corpus shall not be suspended, unless"
&c. for there was no such act of the'goYernment
The best understood term that could be employed
was privilege-the privilege of the writ Of ha6eas
cOrpuS-for that was well understood 1t had been
the subject Of too much national struggle, and de-
fined too often in the blood ffreemen tObe forgotten
or Of uncertain meaning in the minds OF those who
had batiled for years to preserve the privi-
lege secured by the writ. 1t was priuilegium in
decd, and intended for class-the class Of the
helpless, the imprisoned whose complaints were un-
needed under accusations of crime real or supposed
The suspension or temporary annulment OF the hG-
6eGS corpus act had often times occurred in Eng
land Nine times said Lord Mansfield, in the de-
bate the bill to suspend it in the rebellion Of
1T45. q Camp. Lives of Oh. Justices Of England
S0S) The suspension then enacted made the tenth.
The next was in TIT, then in 1874. Now, the
causes the times the modes and the esent OF these
suspensions we're familiar to the trainers of the Con-
sttuton. Tho causes were eonspiracies, or at.
tenpts real or supposed to overthrow the existing
government; the times were those of rebellion or
inEaSion tue mode affected the due process of law,
the act of Charles 2, and magma chGrta and the
extent went far beyond the simple privilege of the
witt Of ha6eaS corpus.
In England the causes had been uniform, and the
rfnH wbn daH
as CRIMINALS of the deepest dye. Every act, popu-
ary-callsd an act suspending hehd6eGs corpus act
beginning in 1858, with the first year of W. & NJ,
and running throug Oh the stormy times which be-
gan with the abandonment of the throne by James
H. and the introduction of the new line Of W. & NJ,
and ended only with the extinction of the male is
sue of James, embracing period Of - years and
eleven acts OF suspension, is of the same character
The titles nearly the same and those only were
deprived of the benefit Of the act who were conspr-
ing, supposed to be conspiring against the Kings
person and government and charged with " trea-
son, suspicion of treason or treaSonabe practices"
Every contemporary with the formation of the
Constitution, who has left his opinions upon the
character of the causes for which suspension was
allowed by the Constitution, and every statesman,
every jurst, who has lived since and written on the
subject, all concur in the opinion, that, although
the writ might issue for any person illegally contn
ed, yet tie suspension of its privilege could affect
only those who were imprisoned, and imprisoned
for crime. Thus, Judge Story, 2 Com. on Uonst. S
1915 ct seq, after declaring that the writ aid subj
ciendun, at common law :" is applied to every case
of lleg restraint whatever it may be-" says that
Statute 3l ch has been incorporated into the jur
isprpdenee Of every State in the Union and the right
to 1t has been secured IN most if not in all of te
State Constitutions, by provision similar to that
existing in the Constitution of the United States"
Judge Story clearly connects the privilege Of the
writ as secured by the Constitution, with that Sc
hTeh n Lab koc -.
act is confined to criminal or supposed criminal
matters. See preamble and the act at large, Hurd.
655. In 1912, the learned commentator says:
" 1t is obvious, that cases Of peculiar emergency
may arise which may justify nay, require the
temporary suspension of any right to the writ But
as 1t has frequently happened foreign countries
and even in England, that the writ has upon various
pretexts and occasions been suspended, whereby
persons apprehended upon suspicion have suffered
long Imprisonment sometimes from design, and
sometimes because they were forgotten, the right
to suspend it is expressly confined to of re-
belon or invasion, when the public safety may re-
quire it A very just and wholesome restraint,
which cuts down at blow fruitful means of op-
preston, capable Of being abused in bad times to
the worst purposes"
The whole and every part of the paragraph looks
only to a suspension for crime. The causes of sus-
pension allowed by the Constitution, and those
recognized as adequate in England, are treated as
the same and the evils likely to flow, the same to
wit that innocent persons apprehended on suspicion
| will suffer long Imprisonment Imprisonment
is treated as the uniform result of suspension, and
the Imprisonment is for crime actual or upon sus-
| pcion But the learned commentator soothes the
jealousy of freedom with the assurance, that, as
the suspension can take place only in of re-
belion invasion when the public safety may
require it just and wholesome restraint is thus
imposed, (which cuts down at blow fruitful
means of oppression" ... = ..-.
Mr. Jefferson q corr. $40 says, "Why suspend
the writ of habeas corpus in instruction or rebel
mp" If the public safety requires that the gov.
eminent should have q man imprisoned on less