Samuel Freeman Miller

“ Whether such jurisdiction existed is therefore the sole question before us.
The question of the extent of the authority of the courts of the United States to use the writ of habeas corpus as a means of releasing persons held in unlawful custody, has always been clouded with more or less doubt and uncertainty. The constitution, by declaring that 'the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not suspended unless when, in cases of rebellion or invasion, the public safety may require it,' added to the exalted estimate in which that writ has always been held in this country and in England. ”

“ It is true that perhaps the court or judge who is asked to issue such a writ need not be very critical in looking into the petition or application for very clear grounds of the exercise of this jurisdiction, because, when the prisoner is brought before the court or justice or judge his power to make full inquiry into the cause of commitment or detention will enable him to correct any errors or defects in the petition under which the writ issued ”

“ This is the matter in dispute; and it is evidently utterly incapable of being reduced to any pecuniary standard of value, as it rises superior to money considerations.' Barry v. Mercein, 5 How, 103, 119, 120. ”