CNN senior legal analyst Elie Honig criticised President Donald Trump and White House deputy chief of staff for policy Stephen Miller for their plans to suspend the right of habeas corpus.
The legal analyst appeared on the Friday, May 9, episode of The Source with Kaitlan Collins. The host asked him about Stephen’s recent comments on habeas corpus, which Elie called “completely wrong” and “extremely dangerous.”
The White House deputy chief of staff for policy stated on May 9 that the Trump administration is actively considering suspending the legal process. Habeas corpus is a legal process that grants a person the right to challenge the legality of their detention or imprisonment.
A reporter asked Miller about Trump’s possible suspension of habeas corpus to “address the problem of illegal immigration” and what might happen in the future.
Stephen responded by comparing immigration to an invasion and said the Constitution “is clear” in stating that “habeas corpus can be suspended in the event of an invasion.”
Elie disagreed, and on the program, he explained what the Constitution means when it states that habeas corpus can be suspended in the event of an invasion. He explained that the Constitution, in Article 1, Section 9, establishes a “restriction” by stating:
“The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public safety may require it.”
He then went on to discuss the four historical instances in which suspension of habeas corpus was used: during the Civil War, during Reconstruction in parts of South Carolina to “try to counter the Ku Klux Klan,” in the Philippines during an insurrection in 1905, and in Hawaii in 1941 after the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor.
Honig said those examples show how it has been used “very carefully in real-life invasions” and “in a geographically limited manner.”
In response to Kaitlan’s comment that Trump is privately considering this, including mentioning the suspension with Miller’s confirmation and how this demonstrates the seriousness of his consideration, Elie responded, “It’s chilling, frankly, that the president is secretly discussing this. I mean, it’s an incredibly dangerous line.”
He added that there’s a reason some Republicans oppose this potential suspension: habeas corpus “is one of the most fundamental rights and protections we have in this country. The right to go to court and say, ‘I’m being unjustly imprisoned.’ Are we going to do that right? That’s a big deal. It’s a red line.”
Habeas corpus first emerged in 1679 in England, when Parliament passed the Habeas Corpus Act. The writ of habeas corpus was later included in the United States Constitution when it was drafted in 1787 and went into effect in 1789. Only with the authorisation of Congress can a president suspend habeas corpus.