The United States of El Salvador
In light of President Trump’s newfound friend and ally Nayib Bukele, the president of El Salvador, who has labeled himself as the “world’s coolest dictator,” it is worth asking whether El Salvador’s legal system will now serve as a model for the United States.
Consider the right of habeas corpus, which legal scholars since the 13th century have described as a linchpin of a free society. With habeas corpus, people who are wrongfully incarcerated have the right to seek their release from custody by seeking a writ of habeas corpus from the judicial branch of the government. The Framers clearly understood the importance of this procedural right because they expressly enshrined it into the U.S. Constitution.
As I pointed out in my blog post “The Circumvention of Habeas Corpus,” without this critically important procedural right, there is no free society. A corollary of this principle is that even though a country’s legal system has habeas corpus, if the nation lacks a courageous, independent judiciary willing to enforce habeas corpus against the president, the military, and their minions, then habeas corpus might as well not exist at all.
Interesting enough, El Salvador’s constitution provides for habeas corpus, just like the U.S. Constitution does. On March 24, 2025, lawyers for Venezuelan immigrants who U.S. officials renditioned to El Salvador, filed petitions for writs of habeas corpus with the Salvadoran Supreme Court. The Venezuelan immigrants are being held in El Salvador’s infamous CECOT prison, which is renowned for torture.
The petition alleged that the Venezuelan immigrants are being wrongfully held in that Salvadoran prison. After all, even though U.S. officials sent them to El Salvador, they hadn’t been convicted of any U.S. crime. They also haven’t committed any crime in El Salvador. Therefore, the petitions correctly argue, they don’t belong in a Salvadoran prison and, therefore, should be released immediately,
Ordinarily, petitions for writs of habeas corpus rise to the top of a court’s docket. The priority given
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