Case Study: Korematsu V. The US

Korematsu v. United States was a controversial landmark decision ruling by the United States Supreme court. Fred Korematsu was a Japanese-American living in California, he was ordered to refuse to leave his city after the Japanese internment camp. After the World War II, President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued the Executive Order 9066 and  Congressional decree gave the military power to exclude citizens of Japanese descent from areas deemed critical to national defense and may be vulnerable to espionage. On May 3, 1942, Fred Korematsu stayed in California and violated the US Army Civilian Executive Order No. 34. This supreme court case has an importance of interpreting the constitution and the different perspective of interpreting the constitution based on a person’s own political background and beliefs.

The Fourth Amendment declares “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.” The two main points being the “lack of probable cause” and the “right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects”. It should be noted that due to the hastiness of the relocation, many Japanese-Americans made ill-prepared financial decisions that led to an unnecessary loss of money, possessions, and land, in which some of it that was lost is now valued to be worth millions of dollars. While the government claimed there was evidence of some Japanese-American involvement in espionage, there was no concrete accusation put forth. In, addition some Japanese-Americans left their families behind in the internment camps to go and fight in the US armed forces during World War II.

The Supreme Court decided over the question “Did the President and Congress go beyond their war powers by implementing exclusion and restricting the rights of Americans of Japanese descent?” The answer is yes, they did, and it presents just how much more power the President had

Life after World War II After World War II, Korematsu remained silent about the internment incidents for around thirty years, neither telling his wife or daughter about this specific time. He felt as if he had played a negative role in that period, and therefore remained quiet. But in 1980, his old attorney found a box of hidden files that recorded that the Solicitor General of the US (the person who represented the US in Korematsu’s Supreme Court case) knew that President Roosevelt's Executive Order actually violated and segregated the Japanese and the Japanese American’s rights and the Constitution itself, and suppressed reports from both the FBI and the military that the Japanese and the Japanese Americans posed no risk to the national defense. He presented the files to President Jimmy Carter, who ordered a full investigation of the affected cases. Korematsu was later notified,of the

Fred Korematsu was standing up for all the Japanese - american who were in the camps and suffered too much. Korematsu lawyers pleaded that “Korematsu has been convicted of an act not commonly a crime. It consists merely of being present in the states where of he is a citizen, near the place he was born, and where all his life has lived” (Google Scholar)In addition the case was taken all the way to the supreme court where he was accused to be guilty for standing up for his right to not got to the internment camp. Korematsu pleaded not guilty but the court did not acknowledge his

Fred Korematsu was Japanese born American who was affected by the order. He decided to file a case opposing the rule, stating that it was unconstitutional. The court case Korematsu v. United States became one of the most controversial cases during WWII. Later, Korematsu was jailed and proclaimed that, "I didn't feel guilty because I didn't do anything wrong... Every day in school, we said the pledge of the flag, 'with liberty and justice for all,' and I believed all that.

The Fourth Amendment to the Constitution gives all Americans “the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause...” The Japanese Americans were forced from their homes and businesses and therefore, their rights were violated. The Sixth Amendment gives all US citizens “the right to a fair and speedy trial.” The Japanese citizens were held in the internment camps against their will for something that they were perceived to “maybe” have done or something that they “might” do. Although a complete violation of their human rights, Japanese Americans were merely held against their

The internment of Japanese-Americans was justified because there were Japanese suspects. Between ten internment camps in Arizona, California, Idaho, Utah, Wyoming, Colorado, and Arkansas, about 250-300 people in each camp were suspects under surveillance. Only around 50-60 people were actually considered dangerous. “It is easy to get on the suspect list, merely a speech in favor of Japan being sufficient to land one there” (Munson 2). Clearly, America was taking extreme precautions.

The government used the fact the parents of the Nisei (Issei) were aliens and since they’re aliens they must be disloyal to America. This was not the case because the Government didn’t allow the Issei to become citizens because of bias stereotypes the Americans had of the Issei. The Nisei had their rights violated because by birth they were Americans so that automatically makes them loyal to America. When the government came and collected them, they were given questionnaires that was supposed to prove their loyalty on how they answered, which meant the government was collecting all types of private information without valid reason which is in violation of The Fourth Amendment. When Robert Gordon Sproul gave his speech, he took the stance of defending the Japanese Americans.

Arguably the most significant civil rights activist in American history, led the boycott to victory. Consequently, the U.S. Supreme Court declared racial segregation for public transportation as unconstitutional. Here by, "***INSERT LAW -QUOTED**** BROWDER VS GALE 1956

Some of the able bodied men enlisted into the military, this showed true loyalty. The ones who didn’t were watched carefully. Inside these camps the living conditions were poor. During the winter they had to deal with low quality heating. Amongst the persecution they received they created a community.

Many historians agree that this event was undoubtedly unconstitutional and an infringement of basic human rights. The forced incarceration of Japanese

The United States Constitution consists of basic human rights granted to everyone in the country, which includes the First and Fourteenth Amendments. The First Amendment guarantees freedom of speech, religion, and press. The Fourteenth Amendment affirms that no state shall enforce a law that deprives a person of life, liberty, or property without due process. However, in 1942, Japanese Americans were deprived of these rights. Due to fear from the bombing of Pearl Harbor, many Japanese Americans were detained in internment camps or confinement places during wartime (“Japanese Internment,” 2007).

The internment of Japanese Americans during WWII was not justified. After Pearl Harbor, many Americans were scared of the Japanese Americans because they could sabotage the U.S. military. To try and solve the fear President Franklin D Roosevelt told the army in Executive order 9066 to relocate all Japanese Americans living on the West Coast. They were relocated to detention centers in the desert. Many of them were in the detention centers for three years.

How would you feel if one day you were told to leave your whole life behind to live in captivity just because people halfway across the world did something wrong? This horror story was all too true for the thousands of Japanese Americans alive during World War II. Almost overnight, thousands of proud Japanese Americans living on the west coast were forced to leave their homes and give up the life they knew. The United States government was not justified in the creation of Japanese internment camps because it stripped law-abiding American citizens of their rights out of unjustified fear.