The first time I appreciated the actual meaning of habeas corpus was many, many years ago. There was a rumor someone I knew had been arrested. I don’t remember if this was a state or federal arrest, but I found a number and found out the person was in custody. I wasn’t sure if they would even tell me, but in the moment it impressed me that in this country we don’t have secret arrests. I knew habeas corpus translates as “you have the body” but I never grasped what that meant in practice, but it made sense now. Not only could the public know the person was in custody, but he would also go before a judge and there would be proceedings.

Some of that has been chipped away over the years—like what we saw with the Patriot Act, Guantanamo detainees, and now immigrants. But the principle exists.

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