Deck 11: Writ of Habeas Corpus

Question 1

Protection for the privilege of habeas corpus is contained in the Bill of Rights to the U.S. Constitution.

Answer 1

False

Question 2

The writ was known and used in some form at least as early as the reign of Edward I.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

The writ protects the rights of the detained by a means consistent with the essential design of the Constitution.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

In the Insular Cases, the Supreme Court held that the writ applies in any territory that is not a State.

Question 5

The Supreme Court in Boumediene v. Bush held that Art. I, § 9, cl. 2 of the Constitution did not apply to detainees at Guantanamo Bay.

Question 6

The U.S. Constitution provides that "The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it."

Question 7

The essence of a writ of habeas corpus is an attack by a person in custody upon the legality of that custody.

Question 8

Only Congress has the authority to suspend the writ of habeas corpus.

Question 9

The Supreme Court in Boumediene v. Bush held that

A) detainees at Guantanamo Bay prison could not use the writ of habeas corpus to attack their confinement because they were not U.S. citizens.
B) detainees at Guantanamo Bay prison could not use the writ of habeas corpus to attack their confinement because they were not being held in the U.S.
C) If the privilege of habeas corpus was to be denied to the detainees, Congress must act in accordance with the requirements of the Suspension Clause.
D) None of the above statements are correct.

Question 10

Chief Justice Roberts in dissent in the Boumediene v. Bush case contended

A) Habeas is most fundamentally a procedural right, a mechanism for contesting the legality of executive detention.
B) The Court should have resolved these cases on other grounds.
C) The Nation will live to regret what the Court has done today.
D) All the above statements are correct.

Question 11

The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus was

A) contained in the U.S. Constitution prior to the adoption of the Bill of Rights.
B) first adopted in the Bill of Rights.
C) not available prior to the adoption of the U.S. Constitution.
D) rejected by King John and was an English right.

Question 12

Which of the following is required before a person can bring a habeas corpus petition?

A) The person must have been released from custody.
B) The person must be in custody.
C) The individual is not required to exhaust his or her usual remedies.
D) The issues involved must not have been already decided.

Question 13

What was the basis of the majority's opinion in the Boumediene v. Bush case?

Question 14

What was the rationale of the dissenters' opinion?

Question 15

How do you feel? Should the prisoners being held in Guantanamo Bay have rights to contest the legality of their detention by a writ of habeas corpus?

Question 16

Which officials may grant a writ of habeas corpus?

Question 17

Explain the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Alaska v. Wright (2021).

Question 18

Why is the writ of habeas corpus referred to as the Great Writ?