Why is habeas corpus important?
During just about any conversation with a civil liberties advocate or constitutional lawyer, the concept of habeas corpus will likely come up. Habeas corpus is Latin, meaning, “You have the body” [source: National Archives]. It’s sort of legal shorthand from a judge to a jailer: You’ve got a prisoner, bring him or her to me so we can determine if he or she is being imprisoned legally. Habeas corpus made headlines in the early 21st century, after the United States revoked this long-established right. MSNBC declared it was “[t]he beginning of the end of America” and the New Yorker prophesied the “[k]illing of habeas corpus” [source: MSNBC<
