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 War 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.This rule implements Section 6502(b) of the Judicial Code as it applies to the venue for petitions for writs of habeas corpus in criminal matters. 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. CHAP. LXXXI. -An Act relating to Habeas Corpus, and regulating Judicial Proceed- March 3, 1863. 'ngs in Certain Cases. In United States law, habeas corpus is a recourse challenging the reasons or conditions of a person's confinement under color of law. Who Is Entitled to File a Federal Writ of Habeas Corpus? District courts presented with a petition for writ of habeas corpus have the authority—indeed the obligation—to overturn the judgment of a state tribunal and. Taney issued a writ of habeas corpus demanding that General George Cadwalader appear in his court with Merryman justifying the Marylander's arrest.