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enemy

Definitions from Case Law · United States Supreme Court

Definitions from Case Law

From 266 U.S. 457 - Behn, Meyer & Co. v. Miller · 1925Most cited · 62 citing opinions

corporation

Corporations are brought within the carefully framed definitions (section 2) of 'enemy' and 'ally of enemy' by the words: Any corporation incorporated within such territory of any nation with which the United States is at war [or any nation which is an ally of such nation] or incorporated within any country other than the United States and doing business within such territory

How the Supreme Court has restated “enemy”

18641880190019201928 most cited: 266 U.S. 457 - Behn, Meyer & Co. v. Miller (1925)
first stateddeparted

Each Supreme Court definition of “enemy,” sized by how often later courts cited it. “Change” is measured by wording overlap with earlier definitions — a rough signal, not a semantic judgment.

How often courts cite the cases defining “enemy”

186018751900192519501975199033

Court decisions citing the 5 opinions that defined “enemy” — 126 in all, by decade. Counts are citations to the defining cases as a whole, not verified uses of the term. The dip in the most recent years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the latest years.

All 5 definitions, chronological · 1864–1928

  1. 1864·69 U.S. 258 - The Venice[p59]· cited 26×
    ORIGINAL

    The rule which declares that war makes all the citizens or subjects of one belligerent enemies of the Government and of all the citizens or subjects of the other, applies equally to civil and to international wars. Either belligerent may modify or limit its operation as to persons or territory of the other; but in the absence of such modification or restriction judicial tribunals cannot discriminate in its application.

    civil war

  2. 1867·73 U.S. 263 - The Flying Scud[p2]· cited 6×

    being established in business in the enemies' country, must be regarded according to settled principles of prize law, as enemies, and their cotton as enemies' property

    prize law

  3. The destruction, abandonment, or capture is that of the same enemy, to wit, an organized hostile force.

  4. Congress definitely adopted the policy of disregarding stock ownership as a test of enemy character and permitted property of domestic corporations to be dealt with as nonenemy. The prescribed plan was to seize the shares of stock when enemy owned rather than to take over the corporate property.

    Trading with the Enemy Act