Government Website ‘Error’ Deletes Habeas Corpus From US Constitution
Trump’s least favorite part of the Constitution mysteriously disappeared from a government website because of unspecified “data issues”
Photo by Sasun Bughdaryan on Unsplash
The writ of Habeas Corpus — the legal procedure protecting people from unlawful arrest and incarceration, including immigrants — mysteriously disappeared from the Library of Congress’s annotated text of the US Constitution in early August due to so-called “data issues.”
On Wednesday, Internet sleuths discovered that, without explanation, several lines from Article I of the Constitution had been erased sometime within the past month.
Suspiciously, the missing portions included protections against the suspension of habeas corpus, which Trump has been desperately fighting to remove since retaking office, in hopes of speeding up deportations.
“The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in the Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it,” the removed section read.
Thankfully, removing habeas corpus from a government website does not change its place in the Constitution, but that has not stopped the administration from trying to overturn the legal mechanism.
Back in May, for example, Stephen Miller, Trump’s top policy advisor on immigration, claimed that the White House was actively exploring options to suspend habeas corpus, even though only Congress has the power to do so, not the executive branch, and only in cases of war or national emergency.
Likewise, during a Senate hearing that same month, Department of Homeland Security Director Kristi Noem completely botched basic questions about the fundamental legal principle, erroneously calling habeas corpus the president’s “constitutional right” to deport undocumented immigrants.
Noem’s response was a tell-all moment from the administration: Republicans want to expedite mass deportations at all costs, even if it results in wrongful arrests and the indefinite suspension of bedrock constitutional rights.
Considering the administration’s open hostility toward due process, the removal of habeas corpus from the Library of Congress ignited fears that this was an intentional attempt by Trump sycophants to misinform American citizens and resident immigrants about their rights and legal protections.
This might still be the case; however, the Library of Congress cryptically claimed on Twitter that this was the result of an unspecified coding error, and the redaction was not performed deliberately. By the time of writing, it appears most of the missing sections of the Constitution have since been restored.
Nevertheless, the removal of specific lines of text from the Constitution — which enumerate rights currently under siege by the administration — remains highly suspect. Moreover, the Library of Congress has not yet explained in detail what kind of glitch was ultimately responsible for producing such a convenient anomaly.
Perhaps this was the fault of human error, or more nefariously, a test by Trump’s allies to see how much of the Constitution and its annotations could be removed from public display before anyone took notice.
In any case, one thing is absolutely certain: as long as Trump and his henchmen continue to govern, none of our rights or liberties are safe.
