Kristi Noem Botches Meaning of Habeas Corpus

In a Senate hearing, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem badly botched the definition of habeas corpus, a right established in the Constitution that Donald Trump wants to suspend.

Appearing before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, Noem was asked by Senator Maggie Hassan to define it. Noem claimed it is “a constitutional right that the president has to be able to remove people from this country.”

Hassan interrupted, “Let me stop you. Excuse me, that is incorrect.”

“President Lincoln used it,” Noem said.

Hassan explained, “Habeas corpus is the legal principle that requires the government to provide a public reason for detaining and imprisoning people. If not for that protection, the government could simply arrest people, including American citizens, and hold them indefinitely for no reason.”

Habeas corpus has been in the Constitution since 1789. Everyone in the USA, citizen or not, has the right to challenge being detained by the government. The government must answer a writ of habeas corpus by showing the reason for their detention.

This right can only be suspended by Congress in situations of rebellion or invasion which is exceedingly rare. A President cannot suspend it unilaterally. When President Lincoln did so, Congress stepped in and affirmed the suspension.

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