Watch Kids' Reviews of
HABEAS CORPUS: THE GUANTANAMO CASES

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Habeas Corpus is an educational documentary short about our constitutional rights and the rights of non-U.S. citizens in war time. I believe this film is relevant to the current political injustices we are facing on our own soil. We are including this film in the KIDS FIRST! Film Festival because it is an important learning tool for today's young people as well as adults. Even those who try to stay current with the news found they learned a lot about this film.

Using interviews with scholars, legal experts and Supreme Court justices, combined with graphic animation and compelling archival and contemporary footage - including television and print images from the attacks on 9/11 and its aftermath -- this film is a comprehensive and comprehensible look at the fundamental right of habeas corpus.

The film traces the history of habeas corpus from the Founders to the Civil War, from the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II to the recent Guantanamo Bay Cases.

Utilizing the documentary as a form of storytelling for what might seem dry or familiar subject matter, the film succeeds at being both interesting and instructive, and would be suitable for a film festival. Ideal for ages 12-18, adults can also learn much about our US system of justice and human rights

Reviewed by Ann B., KIDS FIRST! Reviewer

This film teaches students about one of our most important and oldest human rights, the right of habeas corpus, which means that the government cannot lock you up without giving you the right to appear in a court of law and to challenge your detention. The film explores this right in the context of the aftermath of 9/11, when all three branches of the federal government - the Executive, the Legislative and the Judiciary - fought over the balance between national security and civil liberties. This fight escalated with four Supreme Court cases, which became known as "The Guantanamo Cases." The Court tried to balance the President's duty to protect the nation, with Constitutional protections of fundamental rights.

In each of the four cases, alleged enemy combatants, who were not American citizens, challenged their detention by the government. In each of the four decisions, the Court preserved the separation of powers, overturning laws passed by Congress and mandates proposed by the President aimed at denying prisoners the right of habeas corpus.

Both the history and the contemporary stories in the film are brought to light through compelling interviews, engaging graphic animation and poignant archival footage; all of which are able to capture and hold the attention of a high school-aged audience.