INS v. St. Cyr, 533 U.S. 289 (2001) (No. 00-767) Brief Amici Curiae of Legal Historians Listed Herein in Support of Respondent

STATEMENT OF INTEREST 1 The first question herein is whether the federal courts may review Respondent's statutory retroactivity claim on habeas corpus. Amici curiae are professors of legal history at law schools and universities in the United States and England with expertise in English legal history prior to 1789 and/or early American legal history. The professional interest of amici curiae legal historians is in ensuring that the Court is fully and accurately informed respecting the historical precedent, understandings and evidence regarding the scope and availability of the writ of habeas corpus that, under this Court's precedents, are properly considered in evaluating the issues raised under the Suspension Clause. U.S. Const., Art I, � 9, cl. 2. The people whose lives and writings amici curiae study, including the generation which drafted this country's Constitution, considered habeas corpus a great bulwark of personal freedom, and unquestionably the Framers, educated in English law, drew on their common law comprehension when they prohibited suspension of the writ. Amici curiae have no personal, financial, or other professional interest, and take no position, respecting the other issues raised in the case at bar. SUMMARY OF ARGUMENT Respondent Enrico St. Cyr asserts that he is in custody and subject to deportation by the Immigration and Naturalization Service ("INS") based on the agency's misinterpretation of its organic statute, the Immigration and Nationality Act, 8 U.S.C. �� 1101 et. seq. Mr. St. Cyr contends that Congress, in amending the immigration statutes in 1996 to eliminate certain forms ...