Howarth v. Northcott

In December, 1960, the plaintiff applied for a writ of habeas corpus to determine the custody of her two minor children, who, she alleged, were then being unlawfully held by the defendant, their father, the plaintiff’s divorced husband. The writ of habeas corpus has long been used and approved to test the right to custody of a minor child. Dunham v. Dunham, 97 Conn. 440, 443, 117 A. 504. Indeed, it is the only procedure, other than actions for divorce or legal separation, by which the Superior Court has original jurisdiction over custody of minor children. Adamsen v. Adamsen, 151 Conn. 172,…