United States ex. rel. Quirin v. Cox (Ex parte Quirin)

317 U.S. 1 (1942)

The United States Supreme Court denied the petitions for leave to file a writs of habeas corpus of German enemy aliens ("enemy belligerents") who had been tried on charges of violating the law of war, or "unlawful belligerency", by a military tribunal upon order by the President. Acting on behalf of a belligerent enemy nation, the aliens had secretly entered the United States, against the law of war, with the intent in engaging in hostile activities. The Court held that the enemy aliens did not have a right to a trial by jury.

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