Habeas Corpus Act of 1867
The Habeas Corpus Act of 1867 (sess. ii, chap. 28, 14
Another feature of the 1867 Act is that it extended the reach of habeas to include interpersonal detention as well as official detainment:
"in addition to the authority already conferred, [US Courts, and judges and justices therein] shall have power to grant writs of habeas corpus in all cases where any person may be restrained of their liberty in violation of the constitution, or of any treaty or law of the United States; and it shall be lawful for such person so restrained of their liberty to apply to either of said justices or judges for a writ of habeas corpus...and shall set forth the facts concerning the detention of the party applying, in whose custody they are detained, and by virtue of what claim or authority, if known..."[2]
Although some states already had statutes applying habeas to interpersonal as well as official confinement, such as in the case of Missouri's freedom suit provision,[5] this federal expansion of habeas allowed petitioners in states that had not already done so to use habeas to challenge confinement contrary to the constitution, particularly in the case of coercive labor contracts that closely resembled enslavement.
When the Habeas Corpus Act of 1867 is spoken of, it is usually this act that is meant.
References
- ^ a b c Duker, William (1980). A Constitutional History of Habeas Corpus. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press. pp. 189–99.
- ^ a b c An Act to amend "An Act to establish the judicial Courts of the United States," approved September twenty-fourth, seventeen hundred and eighty-nine," sess. ii, chap. 28, 14 Stat. 385 (1867).
- ^ Ex parte Dorr, 44 U.S. (3 How.) 103 (1845).
- ^ a b Duker, William (1980). A Constitutional History of Habeas Corpus. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press. pp. 225–48.
- ^ "Before Dred Scott 1824 Law". www.sos.mo.gov. Retrieved 2021-10-05.
- ^ An Act related to Habeas Corpus, and regulating judicial Proceedings in certain Cases, sess. iii, chap. 81, 13 Stat. 755 (1863).
- ^ An Act amendatory of "An Act to amend an Act entitled 'An Act relating to Habeas Corpus, and regulating judicial Proceedings in certain Cases,'" approved May eleventh, eighteen hundred and sixty-six, sess. ii, chap. 27, 14 Stat. 385 (1867). This act actually amended an amendment to the Habeas Corpus Suspension Act, sess. i, chap. 80, 14 Stat. 46 (1866).
Further reading
The Habeas Corpus Act of 1867: The Supreme Court as Legal Historian, Mayers L., 33 U.Chi.L.Rev. 31 (1965).