ABSTRACT
The “Great Writ” of habeas corpus is the legal process in which an independent judge has the authority to decide whether the executive branch of the government may continue to detain a particular individual. The chapter first focuses on the blockage by the Supreme Court of the Bush administration’s efforts to deny the detainees held in Guantanamo Bay access to the “Great Writ.” Thereafter the chapter examines how the judiciary has fashioned favorable-to-the-government procedures to be used when considering a petition for a writ.
