"The storied writ of habeas corpus--literally, to hold the body--has enjoyed celebrated status in the common law tradition for centuries. Writing in the eighteenth century, the widely influential English jurist and commentator William Blackstone once labeled the writ of habeas corpus a 'bulwark of our liberties.' Soon thereafter, a member of Parliament glorified the writ as '[t]he great palladium of the liberties of the subject.' Meanwhile, across the Atlantic, in the lead up to the American Revolution, the Continental Congress declared that the habeas privilege and the right to trial by jury were among the most important rights in a free society, 'without which a people cannot be free and happy.' A few years later, while promoting the ratification of the United States Constitution in The Federalist, Alexander Hamilton celebrated the privilege as one of the 'greate[st] securities to liberty and republicanism' known. Thus, as another participant in the ratification debates wrote, the writ of habeas corpus has long been viewed as 'essential to freedom.'"-- Provided by publisher.

The English origins -- The limits and potential of habeas corpus -- Revolution -- Habeas corpus comes to America -- Habeas corpus in the early United States -- Civil War and suspension -- Reconstruction and expansion of the writ -- World War II and the demise of the great writ -- Habeas corpus today.