Lincoln signed the Habeas Corpus Suspension Act in 1863, specifically on March 3 of that year.
The law followed Lincoln’s controversial wartime suspension of habeas corpus, the legal protection requiring authorities to justify a prisoner’s detention before a court. In 1861, Lincoln had authorized military commanders to suspend the writ in parts of Maryland and along the route between Washington and Philadelphia, arguing that urgent military conditions required extraordinary measures.
Congress’s 1863 act formally authorized the president to suspend habeas corpus in cases involving rebellion, espionage, or disloyalty. It also required officials to report the names of detained prisoners and allowed courts to release people when the government failed to provide proper justification.
A common mix-up is confusing the law’s date with Lincoln’s earlier actions. He began suspending habeas corpus in 1861, but Congress passed and Lincoln signed the specific Habeas Corpus Suspension Act in 1863. Lincoln later invoked the authority granted by the act on September 15, 1863, extending the suspension in specified wartime cases.