# *Rumsfeld v. Padilla*

June 1, 2004 • Legal Briefs 

By [Tim Lynch](https://www.cato.org/people/tim-lynch) 

[ 

Download PDF 

](https://www.cato.org/sites/cato.org/files/pubs/pdf/rumsfeldvpadilla.pdf) 

Learn more about [Cato’s Amicus Briefs Program](/about/cato-amicus-program).

Jose Padilla is an American citizen currently being confined in a military brig. The Government claims he is an “enemy combatant” associated with al Qaeda. For almost two years, the Government denied Padilla access to counsel, claiming that the Executive has the power to identify “enemy combatants” and to hold them indefinitely — which Padilla alleges is a violation of his Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Amendment rights. Cato’s brief argues that Padilla should be permitted to meet with his attorney and is entitled to an evidentiary hearing concerning his status as an “enemy combatant.”

[![Media Name: rumsfeldvpadilla.jpg](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/serial_cover_phone/public/pubs/covers/rumsfeldvpadilla.jpg?itok=TqTgplNW)](https://www.cato.org/sites/cato.org/files/pubs/pdf/rumsfeldvpadilla.pdf) 

### Download This Legal Brief

##### *Rumsfeld v. Padilla* 

[ 

Download PDF 

](https://www.cato.org/sites/cato.org/files/pubs/pdf/rumsfeldvpadilla.pdf) 

##### About the Author 

[![Media Name: timlynch-cropped.jpg](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/author_picture/public/authors/crops/timlynch-cropped.jpg?itok=k28xFe9B)](/people/tim-lynch) 

##### [Tim Lynch](/people/tim-lynch)

Former Adjunct Scholar and Former Director, Project on Criminal Justice 

[ 

](https://twitter.com/CatoTimLynch) [ 

](mailto:tlynch@cato.org) 

[![Creative Commons License](/build/cato_2020/images/creative-commons.svg)](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) 
This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/). 

[ 

Download PDF 

](https://www.cato.org/sites/cato.org/files/pubs/pdf/rumsfeldvpadilla.pdf)