Ex Parte Quirin

Background

A group of German-born men, some German citizens and one claimed U.S. citizenship, trained at a sabotage school in Germany and were sent to the United States by submarine in June 1942. Some landed on Long Island and others in Florida, carrying explosives and wearing or carrying parts of German military dress which they hid after landing. They moved in civilian clothes toward cities, were arrested by FBI agents, and were turned over to the military to be held for trial by a military commission created by the President on July 2, 1942.

Reasoning

The central question was whether people who secretly enter the country under enemy direction to commit hostile acts may be tried by a military commission under the law of war. The Court said yes. It found that international law and U.S. Articles of War allow trial of unlawful combatants who enter without uniform to carry out sabotage. The Court also held Congress has authorized such commissions and that the Fifth and Sixth Amendment guarantees of grand juries and jury trials do not bar military trials for these law-of-war offenses. The decision stressed this was not a finding of guilt, only that the commission lawfully could try them.

Real world impact

The ruling lets the government hold and try enemy agents who enter secretly to damage war efforts before military tribunals rather than in civilian courts. It affirms the President’s wartime authority and Congress’s power to use military commissions for such offenses. The Court affirmed the lower court orders and denied the habeas petitions.

Dissents or concurrances

Some Justices differed on whether Congress’s Articles of War or the President’s order governed the exact commission procedures, but a majority agreed the commission had authority.