Civil Liberties, Habeas Corpus, and the War on Terror Research Paper

Civil Liberties, Habeas Corpus, and the War on Terror - Research Paper Example The provision is based on Former U.S. President Abraham Lincoln’s jailing suspected Confederate sympathizers without relief during the U.S. Civil War, suspending the Writ of Habeas Corpus. President Lincoln issued the Habeas Corpus suspension to keep the spies, enemies, aiders, abettors, and deserters during the Civil War (Lincoln, 1989, p. 511). In the case of Rasul v. Bush, 542 U.S. 466 (2005), the Supreme Court ruled that foreign nationals being held as enemy combatants in the war on terror had the right to challenge their incarceration at Guantanamo Bay. Similarly, the Supreme Court decided in the Boumediene v. Bush (2008) case that the Detainee Treatment Act of 2005 did not implement any alternative to the habeas corpus provision of the U.S. Constitution (Vile, 2010, p. 48). Further, U.S. Criminal law’s cause and prejudice rule reiterates the doctrine that the prisoners can petition, through a representative or by himself, the courts for a federal writ of habeas co rpus on the ground that the prisoners’ constitutional rights were overlooked or abused, prejudicing the prisoner(Garner, 2009, p. 279). Habeas corpus is related to the protection of the other civil liberties. Black’s law dictionary defines civil liberty as â€Å"Freedom from undue government interference or restraint.† The civil liberties include freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of religion, freedom of association, and other liberties mentioned in the U.S. Constitutions’ Bill of Rights section. Further, the prior U.S. civil liberties were provided by the 1648 Lawes and Libertyes of Massachusetts. Likewise, the civil liberties were enshrined in the 1791 Bill of Rights provisions. In addition, the civil liberties were included in England’s 1216 Magna Carta Law. The Civil liberties were also emphasized in England’s 1628 the Petition of Rights and the 1689 Bill of Rights Law. Just like the civil liberties, the affected persons an d groups are granted the right to ask the courts to produce the body of the detained prisoners, including those incarcerated in Guantanamo Bay (Garner 2009, p.308). Further, Black’s law dictionary states that the U.S. Bill of Rights is based Habeas Corpus Act [31 Car. 2, 1679] (Garner 2009, 217). Question 2.During the 18th Century, England assigned governors to oversee the statehood of each United States’ historic colonies. England’s policy of promoting the colonies into states was incorporated in the Article 5 of the 1787 Ordinance. The State Constitution’s Article 2’s civil liberties sections included a habeas corpus provision protecting the citizens from government abuses (Keene, 2004, p.74). Further, the United States President authorized the suspension of the Write of Habeas Corpus in 1863, 1866, and 1857. The United States Congress approved the United States president’s suspension during the same time periods. However, there was no gen eral act that would suspend the Writ indicated in the Revised Statutes. During the 17th Century, Britain allowed its English subjects the right to Habeas Corpus. Only England’s Court of the King’s Bench had the power to execute a Writ of Habeas Corpus, not the court judge. The courts implemented the Habeas Corpus Act of Charles II and revised the defects found in England’s 1869 Bill of Rights (Stimson, 2004, p.166). In terms of history, the September 11, 2001 twin towers attack can be classified as an