Rumsfeld v. Hamdi

As should be true under a rule of law, the reasoning underlying our resolution of the important issue presented by this appeal has implications beyond the particular dispute before us. In this instance, those implications are for no less commanding constitutional interests than the President’s power to conduct war and the right of our citizens to be free from governmental restraint except upon lawful justification.

As my colleagues have recognized, the panel’s opinion resolving the important issue presented by this suit is unpersuasive, because of its exclusive reliance upon a mistaken…