Korematsu vs U.S

Kezia Howard 1 Kezia Howard Professor Myhre Law and Society 05 September 2010 I. KOREMATSU vs. UNITED STATES Korematsu vs. United States is a landmark Supreme Court case that involves the constitutionality of Executive Order 9066, known for interning Japanese Americans during World War II. Fred Korematsu was a U.S.-born Japanese American, who showed no signs of disloyalty, but stayed in San Leandro, California, deliberately violating Civilian Exclusion Order No. 34, which excluded all persons of Japanese ancestry from that area. Decided in Post Pearl Harbor hysteria, President Roosevelt granted these laws, in order to “protect” the Japanese Americans from hateful crimes and to prevent espionage during this wartime. This case, decided with a majority vote 6-3, ruled that the exclusion orders were constitutional. Korematsu vs. United States has been incredibly controversial due to the court’s decision that the need for national defense outweighed Korematsu’s individual rights guaranteed to him in the Fourteenth Amendment and the Due Process clause. Despite the military’s right to war powers, General DeWitt had no evidence of disloyalty among the Japanese Americans. This fundamental flaw in authority should have led the court to rule in favor of Korematsu against the internment camps, which was essentially a euphemism for concentration camps. By analyzing the different arguments in the case, majority, concurring, and dissenting, the reader can determine that the dissenting opinion held the most persuasive amount of evidence. II. MAJORITY OPINION Justice Black, Reed, Douglas, and Rutledge made up the majority opinion, focusing on the idea that this case, based on administrative orders by the military, has no regard to race.

Kezia Howard 2 They believe that the military has the power to make orders in times of war to protect national defense and to prevent espionage. Justice Black states that there are no contradictory orders from the military and Korematsu clearly