The New Orleans bulletin. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1874-1876, 1875-02-19
HABEAs CORPUS.

eign of England has dared to exercise sin
the reign of King John, by authorizing hi
to suspend the writ Of habeas corpus throug
! out the Republi, whenever he may THU
proper to do so, it behooves the people
this country seriously to consider the sacre
character Of that great writ, and why it VI
considered by our patriot ancestors of suf
i. cient importance to be enshrined in the Co,
stitution Of the United States.
" The pririlege Of the urH Of habeas corpus
says the second clause of section 8 of the Co,
stitution, "shaH not be suspended unless phe
IN case Of rebellion or INFUSION the public safe,
, may require it," Why was the privilege of th
writ OF habeas corpus deemed so importar
that this solemn prohibition Of its suspension
} except in the two cases mentioned) was in
corporated in the Constitution of this coun
try! The answer is, because it is the onl
safeguard we have inherited from our British
ancestors for the preservation of the persona
liberty of the citizen against the oppression
of the government.
The privilege Of the writ Of habeas corpus
and the right of trial by jury constitute the
palladium of the personal liberty of every
English subject and of every American citi-
zen, however humble he may be and, although
they were both common law rights, derived
| by immemorial usage from q remote and rude
period Of English history, yet they were
often, under English tyrants, set at naught, if
not legally drawn in question, until, at
Runnymede, in the year 1915, they were en-
braced in Magma Charta extorted from
King John, and conceded to be the indis-
putable right of every English subject.
The history of the methods and parliament
tary enectments by which the personal liberty
of every British subject has been secured, is
full of interest and instruction to us who have
derived our ideas ofthe guarantees of personal
security from the same sources, moro especi-
ally at this fearful epoch in our national
history, when dissolute President, with the
appreciation of his sycophantic ministers and
servile Congress, is clamoring for authority
to make arbitrary arrests and to fill the jails
and prisons of the country with such of his
countrymen as he may deem disloyal to his
imperial designs.
The language of the great charter extorte
from King John is "that no freeman shall be
taken or imprisoned but by the lawful judg-
ment of his equals, or by the law Of the land.
BY the Petition Of Right, adopted in the third
year of the reign Of Charles the First, it is en-
acted, "that no freeman shall be imprisoned
or detained without cause shown, to which he
may make answer according to law" and an
other statute enacted in the same reign, pro-
vides, that eff any person be restrained Of
his liberty, by order or decree of any illegal |
court, or by order Of the Kings majesty in per-
son, or by warrant Of the council board, or of
my of the privy council, he shall, upon de-
nand of his counsel, have writ of habeas
corpus, to bring his body before the Court of
Kings Bench or Common Pleas, who shall
within three court days determine whether
he cause of his commitment be just, and
hereupon do as to justice shall appertain.
But yet, with all these general provisions
If law for the security OF the British subject
rom illegal imprisonment, it did not seem to
he enlightened statesmen of Great Britain
hat personal liberty was sufficiently guarded
ntil the enactment of the habeas corpus act
f Charles the Second, which is frequently
allied another Magma Charta !of the King
ON. 1t is from this act that we derive most
our reverence for the sacred character of
le writ of habeas corpus, because of the I
we're penalties it denounces against any J
ficer disobeying the writ, and the lord chan e
'llor or judges denying the same.
Not only did the party thus offending, his '
lvisers, aiders and assistants forfeit to the F
srty aggrisved a sum not less than five hun I
ed pounds, to be recovered with treble q
ISIS, but were subject to the penalties of a
form Of outlawry-and were in G
pable of the Kings pardon.
John Randolph. in 1907, while inveighing :
ainst the arbitrary arrest and deportation of ''
o citizens of New Orleans, charged with a r
plot by Gen. Wilkinson, declared t
Congress that Sin England tho writ of y
beas corpus is secured by the sanction Of %
ath. And is our attachment to liberty" al
exclaimed. 'less than that of England? 1 =
7 that Chief Justice Of England, for re-
sing to issue a writ Of haoeas corpus may be 40
peached, taken to Tower Hill and decol- ~
ed" vi
Such is the jealous care with which the vi
glish nation has guarded the personal III
erty of its subjects, and, as we have seen, an
} trainers of our Constitution deemed it of q
ficient importance to embody in tina. in ~
ument solemn declaration that "the -
vilege Of the writ of habeas corpus shall IN
be suspended unless when in the case of on
ellon or invasion the public safety may s sn'
uirs it. ms
Why, then, should President Grant, in time
peace, ask to be clothed with authority to
pend the writ at will Why, unless he
hes to humble the people Of this country
lis feet by arbitrary arrests and unlimited Gee
,risonments Why, unless he grasps at Pr