This episode contains discussion of violence and murder.

habeas corpus.

This legal phrase comes to us from Latin.

It means, you shall have the body.

Boiling it down, it quite literally is a command to bring a detainee,

specifically their body, to court. This legal recourse dates back to the medieval ages.

Here in the United States, we have this concept passed down to us through English common law.

It is included in Article I of our Constitution.

Hebeas corpus allows the detainee to challenge the legality of their continued confinement.

Under the law, federal courts can hear state cases where there are concerns about massive rights violations based on habeas corpus.

As a result, you see a lot of habeas work done in relation to state capital cases.

One really interesting application of habeas law recently came to our attention.

Let's jump to the Indiana University Mars School of Law.

There, Professor Michael Osbruck directs the school's habeas project.

Michael has many years of experience working habeas cases and also serves as a board member of the

Indiana Public Defender Council.

He even won the Gideon Award from the Indiana Public Defender Council for his work with the

habeas Project.

I use habeas project allows students to study habeas law in a sort of boot camp and then actually

work on non-capital habeas cases. The habeas project has changed lives.

It's helped people get released from prison or get their sentences reduced.

The students who've worked on the project have also gone on to some really impressive things with their legal careers.

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