Introduction : Hearing the sighs of prisoners -- The jailer jailed : 1605 and beyond -- Writing habeas corpus -- Writ of the prerogative -- Making judgments -- Making jurisdiction -- Making liberties, making subjects -- Legislators as judges -- Writ imperial -- The palladium of liberty in law's empire -- Appendix : A survey of habeas corpus use, 1500-1800.
Summary
A revisionist history of habeas corpus the world's most revered legal device. Habeas corpus was not established to protect the rights of the individual but rather to protect the individual from abusive judges and jailers.
