Habeas Corpus and Limits on Government Power
Grades 9-12
A constitutional question that arose in the nation’s earliest years is back at the center of a national conversation: Can the government hold or expel people without giving them a day in court? During President Donald Trump’s second term, his administration expanded travel bans and invoked the Alien Enemies Act to speed deportations, actions that revived a debate over habeas corpus. That phrase, Latin for “you should have the body,” is a legal right that lets people held by the government ask a judge to review whether their detention is lawful. This lesson helps students explore the way courts act as a check on presidential power, and why habeas corpus remains one of the most important phrases in American law.
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