Case reports, free online sources, complaints and other pleadings, court records, divorce decree information on changing the law, judges' reversal rates. Habeas Corpus means a demand to produce the body whether dead or alive.HABEAS CORPUS - The name of a writ used to bring a person before a court or judge to decide whether that person is being unlawfully denied his or her freedom. A writ of habeas corpus requires that a person who is in custody be brought before a judge or court and that they be able to challenge that custody. This new Sixth Edition starts a second century for Black's Law. Dictionary-the standard authority for legal definitions since 1891. As such, writs of mandamus are rather rare. One of the earliest cases involving a request for a writ of mandamus came before the Supreme Court in the Marbury v. The term habeas corpus comes from the Latin meaning "that you have the body" of the detainee brought before the court or tribunal. Factor in a writ of habeas corpus in India.