Continuing on with our examination of the suspension of habeas
corpus during the Civil War, the first part of which may be read
here, we turn to Jefferson Davis and the suspension of habeas
corpus in the Confederacy. The Confederate Constitution provided
for the suspension of habeas corpus: Sec. 9 (3) 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.
On February 27, 1862 the Confederate Congress vested in Davis
the power to suspend Habeas Corpus. On March 1, 1862 Davis used
this power, suspending the writ of Habeas Corpus and declaring
martial law in a ten-mile radius around the City of Richmond.
Davis would use this power throughout the War, especially in
regions where Unionist sentiment was strong, for example in East
Tennessee where martial law was imposed and the writ of habeas
corpus suspended in 1862. Continue reading One of the more
troubling features of the Civil War is the roughshod way that
both the gove