This law says if the government is keeping a person in jail it is obligated to explain why: this is called a writ of habeas corpus.
It would be pretty bad if the government could imprison you for no reason and not have to explain itself, right? That can happen in totalitarian countries, but in democracies like the U.S., we can depend on habeas corpus. Like most legalese, habeas corpus is Latin and means a person can’t be locked up without explanation or trial — they must be brought before a judge. Habeas corpus is a key concept in our legal system — it helps keep us free.
