Law in Joseph Smith's day

American law in Joseph Smith's day is almost unrecognizable today, because so much has changed, and one must be careful and meticulous in combining the tools, legal research and statutory and documentary analysis in drawing conclusions, said John W. Welch, a professor at the J. Reuben Clark Law School at BYU.

Welch chaired a May 23 session on Joseph Smith and the law in Illinois at the 44th annual Mormon History Association Conference in Springfield. He introduced three presenters, each associated with the Legal and Business Series of the Joseph Smith Papers project of the Church History Department.

Jeffrey N. Walker's paper dealt with Joseph Smith's use of the writ of habeas corpus in defending himself against the charges of his enemies toward the end of his life.

"It is a fundamental safeguard," Walker said, "that has been established to protect individual personal liberty. The basic concept is that if you've believe you've been imprisoned wrongfully, you have the right to petition a court other than the one that put you in prison to have it reviewed."

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This story is provided by The LDS Church News, an official publication of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It is produced weekly by The Deseret News.