Democratic Developments in EnglandChapter #1 – Section #5

“Clergymen charged and accused of anything shall, on being summoned by a justice of the king, come into his court, to be responsible there for whatever it may seem to the king’s court they should there be responsible for.”

- King Henry II of England

Key Terms

Define:1. feudalism

2. William the Conqueror3. common law4. absolute monarch5. habeas corpus

6. limited monarchy

The Magna Carta

“We will appoint as justices, constables, sheriffs, or bailiffs only such as know the law of the realm and mean to observe it well.” –

Magna Carta

Key Principles of the Magna Carta

List three main components of the Magna Carta. What feudal (people) rights were granted by the king? Did this have an affect on American colonists centuries

later? Pg. 42

1. 2. 3.

The English Bill of Rights“The rights and liberties asserted and claimed in the said

declaration are the true, ancient and indubitable rights of the people of this kingdom.”-English Bill of Rights

Key Principles of the English Bill of Rights

List three main components of the English Bill of Rights.

How was the monarchy’s power checked by Parliament?

Pg. 46 1. 2. 3.

English Bill of RightsEnsured the superiority of Parliament (representative government) over the monarchy.The English monarchy had to give the House of Commons the “power of the purse” –treasury.A king or queen could no longer suspend laws.Citizens were guaranteed a trial by jury.It abolished excessive fines and cruel or unjust punishment.It affirmed the principle of habeas corpus.

The Writ of Habeas CorpusHabeas Corpus: requiring a person under arrest to be brought before a judge or court. No unlawful detention. Habeas corpus is often called the Great Writ. A writ is a formal court order. In this case, it is an order from a court to some officer, usually from the Executive Branch of government (President), to justify holding a particular individual in custody.

It is considered the citizen's great protection against arbitrary arrest by government agents because government officials must either obey the court or look like they are disrespecting the rule of law.

“You have the body”The Latin phrase habeas corpus means "you have the body." The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus refers to a common-law tradition that establishes a person's right to appear before a judge before being imprisoned. When a judge issues the writ, he commands a government official to bring a prisoner before the court so he can assess the legality of the prisoner's detention. When the privilege of the writ is suspended, the prisoner is denied the right to secure such a writ and therefore can be held without trial indefinitely. Habeas corpus is the only common-law tradition enshrined in the Constitution, which also explicitly defines when it can be overridden. Article I, Section 9 of the Constitution says, "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."

FDR and WWIIFDR suspends Habeas Corpus

On February 19, 1942, just two months after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066.It authorized the War Department to designate “military areas” that excluded people considered to be a danger to the United States. But, the order actually had a specific target: 120,000 Japanese Americans living along the West Coast of the United States. 120,000 Japanese, two-thirds of which were American citizens, were placed in interment camps without charges or a trial during WWII.

Habeas Corpus Suspended Guantanamo Bay PrisonSince January 2002, the Guantanamo Bay detention camp has held hundreds of detainees without trial or any semblance of due process, in contravention of international law and the U.S. Constitution (which applies to both U.S. citizens and foreigners). There are currently 166 individuals imprisoned at Guantanamo, and not a single one of these has been afforded the rights of an impartial court.

Guantanamo Bay Prison

Blog Question - www.mrcosbey.com

Article I, Section 9 of the U.S. Constitution allows the Executive Branch to suspend habeas corpus when in cases of rebellions or invasions.

On Sept. 24, 1862, President Lincoln issued a proclamation suspending the right to writs of habeas corpus nationwide during the Civil War.

On February 19,1942, President Roosevelt signs Executive Order 90066 authorizing military areas for people considered to be dangerous to U.S.

On Oct. 17, 2006, President Bush signed a law suspending the right of habeas corpus to persons "determined by the United States" to be an "enemy combatant" in the Global War on Terror.

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1. Do you believe habeas corpus should ever be suspended, allowing the U.S. government to imprison individuals without formal charges or a right to a fair trial? What about in times of rebellions or invasions (9/11 & Pearl Harbor)?

2. Do you think the prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, some who have been there over ten years deserve a fair trial and to know the charges against them? Or do you believe “suspected” terrorists should not be granted a fair trial?

Guantanamo Bay Documentary start at 54:30

Thomas Jefferson on Habeas Corpus“Why suspend the habeas corpus in insurrections and rebellions? The parties who may be arrested may be charged instantly with a well defined crime; of course, the judge will remand them. If the public safety requires that the government should have a man imprisoned on less probable testimony in those than in other emergencies, let him be taken and tried, retaken and retried, while the necessity continues, only giving him redress against the government for damages. Examine the history of England. See how few of the cases of the suspension of the habeas corpus law have been worthy of that suspension. They have been either real treasons, wherein the parties might as well have been charged at once, or sham plots, where it was shameful they should ever have been suspected. Yet for the few cases wherein the suspension of the habeas corpus has done real good, that operation is now become habitual and the minds of the nation almost prepared to live under its constant suspension.” –Thomas Jefferson to James Madison, 1788.