habeas corpus
a writ requiring a person to be brought before a judge or court, especially for investigation of a restraint of the person's liberty, used as a protection against illegal imprisonment.
Origin of habeas corpus
1Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use habeas corpus in a sentence
They hate that Lincoln suspended habeas corpus; they never note that Jefferson Davis did, too.
The Rancid Abraham Lincoln–Haters of the Libertarian Right | Rich Lowry | June 17, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTThe ringleader was Willie Mak, and he got the death penalty, a sentence later overturned in federal habeas corpus proceedings.
Robert Bales, Accused in Afghan Deaths, Hires Flashy Lawyer John Henry Browne | Winston Ross | March 19, 2012 | THE DAILY BEASTGreenpeace and student activists were outlawed and habeas corpus was suspended.
Now, if you please, Senator McCain, in the spirit of habeas corpus, show me the body.
Why My Former Hero Shouldn’t Be President | Christopher Brownfield | October 7, 2008 | THE DAILY BEASTEnglish act of habeas corpus passed; the act suspending it was repealed, probably forever, 1818.
The Every Day Book of History and Chronology | Joel Munsell
One of the most familiar actions is habeas corpus, which is employed to recover a person's liberty from illegal restraint.
Putnam's Handy Law Book for the Layman | Albert Sidney BollesFirst of all, he brought an action—a writ of habeas corpus, I think—to recover his daughter, as an English subject.
Marriage la mode | Mrs. Humphry WardOn the presentation of the first report of the committee the government brought in a bill to suspend the habeas corpus act.
The Political History of England - Vol. X. | William HuntIt robs men of the jury trial, it robs them of habeas corpus, and forty other things.
The Duty of Disobedience to the Fugitive Slave Act | Lydia Maria Child
British Dictionary definitions for habeas corpus
/ (ˈheɪbɪəs ˈkɔːpəs) /
law a writ ordering a person to be brought before a court or judge, esp so that the court may ascertain whether his detention is lawful
Origin of habeas corpus
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Cultural definitions for habeas corpus
[ (hay-bee-uhs kawr-puhs) ]
A legal term meaning that an accused person must be presented physically before the court with a statement demonstrating sufficient cause for arrest. Thus, no accuser may imprison someone indefinitely without bringing that person and the charges against him or her into a courtroom. In Latin, habeas corpus literally means “you shall have the body.”
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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