Morales v. Portuondo

OPINION

CHIN, District Judge.

The writ of habeas corpus — the “Great Writ” — has been described as the “highest safeguard of liberty.” Smith v. Bennett, 365 U.S. 708, 712, 81 S.Ct. 895, 6 L.Ed.2d 39 (1961). “[F]rom our very beginnings,” the writ has been a powerful remedy of last resort, the “[vindication of due process [being] precisely its historic office.” Fay v. Noia, 372 U.S. 391, 401-02, 83 S.Ct. 822, 9 L.Ed.2d 837 (1963), abrogated on other grounds in Keeney v. Tamayo-Reyes, 504 U.S. 1, 112 S.Ct. 1715, 118 L.Ed.2d 318 (1992). This case serves as a reminder of its historic — and…