KOREMATSU v. U.S.

1
KOREMATSU v. U.S.

• 1943
• U.S. Supreme Court

2
Facts of the Case

• Bombing of Pearl Harbor Hysteria
• Executive Order 9066 excluded certain people
  from west coast military zones
• Fred Korematsu was a US citizen in San Francisco
• Failed to report for exclusion and was arrested,
  tried and convicted

3
Constitutional Issues

• 5th Amendment
• Due process to be denied life, liberty or
  property

• 14th Amendment
• Citizenship
• Guarantee of due process under the law

4
Arguments

• For Korematsu
• Denied liberty
• No loyalty hearings
• Purely racial in nature
• President exceeded his authority

• For the US
• Military necessity made it necessary
• Insufficient time to determine loyalty
• State of war existed giving president the
  authority
• Not racial the attack was by the Japanese

5
Korematsu v. U.S. Decision

• 6-3 Decision in favor of the U.S.
• Opinion written by Justice Hugo Black
• Reasons
• 1. Must give military right to protect the
  nation
• 2. Time did not permit distinction between loyal
  and disloyal
• 3. Hardship is a part of war for all citizens
• 4. Not racial but because we were attacked by
  Japan

6
Dissenting Opinions

• Believed that the motivation was racial
• Called it a flagrant violation of due process of
  law
• Time factor wasnt valid because it continued for
  months after danger of attack was gone

Korematsu received the Presidential Medal of
Freedom in 1998. He died in 2005.