Hamdi v. Rumsfeld, 542 U.S. 507; 124 S. Ct. 2633; 159 L. Ed. 2d 578 (2004) Facts—Yaser Esam Hamdi, who was born in Louisiana in 1980 but moved as a child with his family to Saudi Arabia, was captured by…

Rostker v. Goldberg, 453 U.S. 57; 101 S. Ct. 1; 69 L. Ed. 2d 478 (1981) Facts—The Military Selective Service Act authorized the president to require the registration for possible military service of males but not females. In 1980, President…

Johnson v. Eisentrager, 339 U.S. 763, 70 S. Ct. 936; 94 L. Ed. 1255 (1950) Facts—Eisentrager, and twenty other German nationals were convicted of war crimes by U.S. military tribunals in China (with the consent of the Chinese government) for…

Woods v. Cloyd W. Miller Co., 333 U.S. 138; 68 S. Ct. 421; 92 L. Ed. 596 (1948) Facts—The District Court for the Northern District of Ohio declared unconstitutional Title II of the Housing and Rent Act of 1947, which…

Duncan v. Kahanamoku, 327 U.S. 304; 66 S. Ct. 606; 90 L. Ed. 688 (1946) Facts—Immediately following the Pearl Harbor attack, Governor Poindexter of the Territory of Hawaii proclaimed martial law, suspended the writ of habeas corpus, closed the local…

Korematsu v. United States, 323 U.S. 214; 65 S. Ct. 193; 89 L. Ed. 194 (1944) Facts—Korematsu, an American citizen of Japanese ancestry, remained in California after the Commanding General of the Western Defense Command ordered it cleared of all…

Ex parte Quirin, 317 U.S. 1; 63 S. Ct. 1; 87 L. Ed. 3 (1942) Facts—The petitioners were all born in Germany. All lived in the United States and returned to Germany between 1933 and 1941, where they attended sabotage…

Hamilton v. Kentucky Distilleries & Warehouse Co., 251 U.S. 146; 40 S. Ct. 106; 64 L. Ed. 194 (1919) Facts—On November 11, 1918, the armistice with Germany was signed. Ten days later, Congress passed and the president approved the War-Time…

Selective Draft Law Cases (Arver v. United States), 245 U.S. 366; 38 S. Ct. 159; 62 L. Ed. 349 (1918) Facts—On May 18, 1917, Congress provided that all male citizens between the ages of 21 and 30, with certain exceptions,…

Ex parte Milligan, 4 Wallace (71 U.S.) 2; 18 L. Ed. 281 (1866) Facts—Milligan, who was not and had never been in the U.S. military, was tried, convicted, and sentenced to be hanged by a military commission established under presidential…