The Body and the State: Habeas Corpus and American Jurisprudence

Traces the history of the writ of habeas corpus and its influence on federal-state relations.

The writ of habeas corpus is the principal means by which state prisoners, many on death row, attack the constitutionality of their conviction in federal courts. In The Body and the State, Cary Federman contends that habeas corpus is more than just a get-out-of-jail-free card-it gives death row inmates a constitutional means of overturning a jury's mistaken determination of guilt. Tracing the histor...