Question: What is Habeas Corpus?

Focusing on the Constitutional -

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.
(U.S. Constitution, Article I, Section 9, Clause 2)

What is Habeas Corpus?

- George Sweeney

The concept of Habeas Corpus, also known as the "Great Writ" and is literally translated from the Latin as "you have a body," is a legal action to require the authority holding a prisoner to give a legal or jurisdictional reason to continue to hold the prisoner. In the absence of a legal basis the prisoner must be released from custody.

This concept or protection came from English Common Law. The right of a citizen to challenge their incarceration was considered essential to stem governmental abuse, rather intentional, not intentional or by neglect.

In the Constitutional Convention it was debated whether the Great Writ would be absolute or if it could be suspended. One will note that the clause does not explicitly state that the Writ may be suspended. It was also debated who should be able to suspend the Writ. Originally the clause was in Article III (this Article deals with the Judiciary) but was moved by the Committee on Style to Article I. This is understood to imply that only Congress had the authority to suspend the Writ.

Since the ratification of the Constitution the Writ has only been suspended by congress four times. First time was by Lincoln, later sustained by Congress. The other three times the Writ was only suspended by Congress in specific areas.

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I have a question.

What did the phrase 'promote the general welfare' mean to the Founding Fathers?
Thanks,
Dave

First of all one should remember that the Preamble of the Constitution does not itself have any legal meaning or significance. This interpretation was verified by the Supreme Court of the United States in Jacobson v. Massachusetts (1905).

Secondly, the Preamble was only added to the document by Gouverneur Morris after the final draft of the Constitution was approved by the Constitutional Convention.

Let's go to a commentary by Forrest McDonald on the Preamble:

The salient point is that its implications are negative, not positive - a limitation on power, not a grant of power. By definition "general" means applicable to the whole rather than to particular parts or special interests. A single example will illustrate the point. In the late 1790's Alexander Hamilton, an outspoken advocate of loose construction of the Constitution as well as of using the Necessary and Proper Clause to justify a wide range of "implied powers," became convinced that a federal financed system of what would soon be called internal improvements - building roads, dredging rivers, digging canals - was in the national interest. But since each project would be of immediate advantage only to the area where it was located, none could properly be regarded as being in the general welfare. Accordingly, Hamilton believed a constitutional amendment would be necessary if internal improvements were to be undertaken. James Madison, in his second term as President, would veto a congressional bill on precisely that ground.
(The Heritage Guide to the Constitution, pg 45)

Also see Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution.

Recapping, the Founding Fathers did not want the Federal government to act in favor of any particular area, group or segment over another.

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