NC06

One of the most important rights that our Constitution guarantees us is habeus corpus, literally "to have the body", or something like that. It guarantees that individuals will not be imprisoned indefinitely without being charged without evidence of a crime being presented in a court, and without charges being filed. The Supreme Court has "recognized the fact that`[t]he writ of habeas corpus is the fundamental instrument for safeguarding individual freedom against arbitrary and lawless state action.' Harris v. Nelson, 394 U.S. 286, 290-91 (1969)." (ibid.)