Bruce A. Ragsdale
Federal Judicial Center
“A writ of habeas corpus…serves as a citizen’s most important protection against unlawful imprisonment. The writ requires an official to bring a prisoner before a civil court and to justify the arrest and detainment of that citizen. President Abraham Lincoln’s limited authorization of military arrests and the suspension of citizens’ privilege of the writ of habeas corpus prompted the first of many public debates on the restriction of civil liberties in the face of attempts to sabotage the federal defense of the Union. “