Berk v. Laird
United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York
317 F. Supp. 715 (1970)

- Written by Alex Ruskell, JD
Facts
Berk (plaintiff) sued for an injunction against sending an enlisted army man to Vietnam. Berk challenged the constitutional basis for the United States’ military presence in Vietnam. The court denied the injunction on the basis that the power of the president as commander-in-chief to send armed forces abroad was a political question that courts could not decide. Berk appealed, and the appeals court found that the president’s power to commit armed forces was a justiciable question and remanded Berk’s claim. Berk then asserted that the president was always ahead in sending troops, which forced Congress to ratify the president’s actions. Berk also claimed that any authorizations for Vietnam hostilities were not sufficiently explicit and that Congress should have made an express declaration of war.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Judd, J.)
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