/ 
 
 HOUSE OF IIEPRESENTATIVES, :May 12, 1864.— Laid on 
 the table and ordered to be printed, 
 
 [Bj Mr. Orr.1 
 
 RESOLUTIOISrS 
 
 Of the Legislature of the State of Mississippi in Relation to the Recent Act 
 ofJ,he Congress of the Confederate States Suspending the Privilege of the 
 Writ 1^ Habeas Corpus : 
 
 Whereas, The writ of habeas corpus is the great prerogative writ of 
 the American people, distinguishing a free and constitutional govern- 
 ment from an absolute despotism ; and whereas, without it the liberty 
 and the personal rights of the citizen are without sanction, and their 
 violation without remedy ; and whereas this great privilege of Amer- 
 ican citizens was inherited by them from their ancestors, and was 
 held and exercised by them before the establishment of any of the 
 constitutions of the American States, after a long and arduous strug- 
 gle of five hundred years' duration against the adherents of arbitrary 
 power ; and whereas it is declared in the Constitution of the Confed- 
 erate States, and in that of the State of Mississippi, that the privilege 
 of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended unless when in 
 cases of rebellion or invasion the public safety may require it ; and 
 whereas it is also declared in said constitutions that *' the right of 
 the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects, 
 against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be. violated, and 
 no warrant shall issue but upon probable cause, supported by oath or 
 aflSrmUtion, and partially describing the place to be searched, and the 
 persons or things to be seized," thereby iptcnding to guarantee to the 
 American citizen the inalienable right, derived from the common law, 
 and inherited from his English ancestors, to be secure from arr«8t- 
 except upon warrant specifying the otfence, and on probable cause, 
 supported by oath or affirmation ; and whereas, on the 14th of Feb- 
 ruary last, the Congress of the Confederate States did pass *an act 
 *' that during the present invasion of the Confederate States, the 
 privilege of the writ of Jwbeas corpus be, and the same is hereby, sus- 
 pended in cases of persons arrested^r detained by order of the President 
 or^ecretary of War, or GeneraWfficer commanding the trans-Mis- 
 Bissippi department, hy the authority and under the control of the 
 President," which- suspension extended to arrests or detentions in a 
 large number of cases embraced in said act, in many of which no 
 specific crime is named ; and whereas, by one of the provisions of said 
 act, it i^ declared " that the President shall cause proper officers to 
 
investi'^ate the cases of all persons so arrested or detained, in order 
 that thoy may be discharged, if improperly detained, unless they can 
 be speedily tried in the due course of law," thus placing it in the 
 power of tlie President of the Cohfederate States to confer on military 
 tribunals, holding their appointments at his will, ».nd responsible only 
 to him, to determine upon the rights and li-berties of the citizen, in- 
 stead of leaving it to independent judicial tribunals of the country in 
 which alone the constitution and laws have reposed that power, thus 
 evincing a jealousy of the civil power, which, in the opinion of this 
 Legislature, is not justified by the circumstances; and whereas, in 
 the opinion of this Legislature, the power of Congress, implied rather 
 than granted in the Constitution of the Confederate States, to suspend 
 the privilege of the writ of habeas torj)us, did mst, and was not intended 
 to confer upon Congress the power to authorize the arrest or deten- 
 tion of the citizen without warrant and without probable caffse, sup- 
 ported by oath or affirmation, upon the mere order of an Executive or 
 military officer, but was intended only to apply to cases where the 
 person of such citizen was held in custody under a legal and consti- 
 tutional arrest : Therefore, 
 
 Be it Resolved by the Legidaturc of Mississippi, That the act of 
 Congress suspending the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus is 
 dangerous to the liberty of the citizen, unconstitutional in some of 
 its features, tends to make the civil power subordinate to the military, 
 and establishes a precedent of a doubtful and dangerous character, 
 and should be repealed. 
 
 Be it further resolved, That the Senators of the State of Mississippi 
 in Congress be instructed, and the Representatives be requested to 
 take the necessary action to secure the repeal of said act at the 
 earliest possible period ; and if the same is not repealed, the said 
 Senators are instructed,* and Representatives requested, to vote 
 against the further suspension of said privilege ; and the governor of 
 • the State is hereby directed to transmit a copy of these resolutions to 
 the Senators and Representatives in Congress. 
 
 Be it further resolved, .That in the adoption of these resolutions, it 
 is not the intention of the Legislature to impute to the President of 
 the Confederate States any desire to arrogate to himself more power 
 than the Constitution has conferred, and that in the opinion of .this 
 ' Legislature, it is the duty of every patriotic citizen to uphold and 
 maintain the said President of the Confederate States in the legitimate 
 exercise of the constitutional powers conferred on him. 
 
 Approved April 5, 1864.