The modern institution of civil and human rights, and particularly the writ of habeas corpus, began in June of 1215 when King John was forced by the feudal lords to sign the Magna Carta at Runnymede. Although that document mostly protected “freemen”—what were then known as feudal lords or barons, and today known as CEOs and millionaires—rather than the average person, it initiated a series of events that echo to this day.
Two of the most critical parts of the Magna Carta were articles 38 and 39, which established the foundation for what is now known as “habeas corpus” laws (literally, “produce the body” from the Latin—meaning, broadly, “let this person go free”), as well as the Fourth through Eighth Amendments of our Constitution and hundreds of other federal and state due process provisions.
Read More: First They Came for the Terrorists
