Brief Fact Summary. An American citizen was arrested upon his return to the U.S. from Pakistan and held as an enemy combatant.
Synopsis of Rule of Law. “The President does not have the power under Article II of the Constitution to detain as an enemy combatant an American citizen seized on American soil outside a zone of combat” without “clear congressional authorization.”
Statutory construction must begin with the language employed by Congress and the assumption that the ordinary meaning of that language accurately expresses the legislative purpose.
View Full Point of LawIssue. Whether the President had sufficient power to hold Padilla as an enemy combatant.
Held. No. The Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit held that “the President lacks inherent constitutional authority