Instructions and form for filing a petition for writ of habeas corpus under 28 USC § 2254. An Act of Congress that authorized the president of the United States to suspend the right of habeas corpus in response to the American Civil WarThe 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. As we will see, Congress did not enact legislation authorizing suspension of habeas corpus until March 3, 1863. The records of the US Circuit Court for the District of Columbia contain a series of approximately 450 habeas corpus cases dating from 1820 to 1863. On May 28, 1861, Supreme Court Chief Justice Roger Taney directly challenged President Abraham Lincoln's wartime suspension of the great writ of habeas corpus. Federal habeas corpus is a procedure under which a federal court may review the legality of an individual's incarceration. 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. Money damages ARE NOT available in a habeas corpus action. • You must sign the petition.