Early entry in the habeas-related novel contest

Pete Anderson was first to check in with a suggestion of a novel that captures what's at stake in the debate over habeas corpus:

the all-time classic novel in this vein has to be Franz Kafka's The Trial, which unforgettably shows how an innocent man can be unfairly persecuted by a totalitarian state.

As Pete noted, it's an obvious candidate...so obvious, in fact, that it really doesn't need to be flushed out: we know exactly what he's talking about.

Do you know of a novel of what life is like in a society where the authorities can arrest and detain a man without justifying the jailing to a judge?

Do you know of a novel where innocent lives are imperiled by demanding the authorities have to produce evidence to jail a menace to society?

Mail in your title with an argument to support your choice. There's a reward. Details here.

--Marshal Zeringue