Supreme Court:
Korematsu v. United States
The Constitutionality of the Japanese Internment
Eli Liebell-McLean
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INDEX
Summary of the Issue/Related Legislation ............................. 2-5
Major Aspects of the Issue ..................................................... 6
Actors and Interests ................................................................ 7
Discussion Questions ............................................................. 8
Bibliography/Research Links ................................................. 9
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Summary of the Issue/Important Legislation
On December 7, 1941, Pearl Harbor, an American military base near
Honolulu, Hawaii, was attacked by hundreds of Japanese fighter planes which
bombarded the base for two hours, destroying eight battleships and over 300
planes and killing over 2,000 American soldiers. The next day, President Roosevelt
submitted a request to Congress for a declaration of war against Japan which was
drafted and approved almost immediately, at 4:10 p.m. EST, with only one
dissenting vote.
At this point, the American west coast had been a major destination for
Japanese immigrants for decades with approximately 275,000 arrivals between 1861
and 1940. Like other Asian-Americans, the Japanese were treated quite poorly, with
the majority performing manual labor in mines, construction projects, fish-canning,
and agriculture; in 1940 Japanese-Americans controlled less than 4% of America's
farmland but produced more than 10% of the total value of the state's farm
resources. Many Americans, particularly white farmers and the predominately white
labor unions strongly opposed Japanese immigration and by extent Japanese
presence in America; they asserted, as many still do today in reference to other
foreign immigrants, that these immigrants posed a threat to American opportunities
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for labor and that because the Japanese workers accepted a lower pay grade, the
market was driven down and their own work invalidated. Distrust and bias towards
Japanese-Americans persisted in the first few decades of the 20th century.
Responding to pressure from many citizens, California and Washington passed
laws prohibiting Asians (as non-citizens, the act does not specify Asians) from
holding land, and the U.S. Congress revoked citizenship of women who married
Japanese-born immigrants in the 1922 Cable Act (repealed in 1936). 1922 also saw
the decision of Ozawa v. United States , in which the Supreme Court upheld the
right of the government to deny U.S. citizenship to Japanese immigrants which gave
credence to the Immigration Act of 1924 banning further immigration from Japan.
Following the declaration of war against Japan, Roosevelt declared Japanese
immigrants over fourteen to be considered "alien enemies" and authorized
confiscation of property usable for espionage or sabotage. This was naturally
accompanied by a wave of increased anti-Japanese fervor, with incredible suspicion
directed against the Japanese-American population. On February 19, 1942, the
President issued Executive Order No. 9066 which authorized designation of
military zones and gave authority to the military commander over those areas to
determine "any or all persons may be excluded, and...the right of any person to
enter, remain in, or leave shall be subject to whatever restrictions the Secretary of
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War and appropriate Military Commander may impose in his discretion." Congress
subsequently gave further authorization on March 21, 1942, when they determined
that anyone remaining or committing acts in a military area contrary to the
restrictions of the military commander of that area would be guilty of a
misdemeanor. The head of the Western Defense Command was at that time
Lieutenant General John DeWitt. DeWitt had long harbored a distrust for
Japanese-Americans, particularly first generation immigrants (he stated in January
'42 that "I have no confidence in [Japanese] loyalty whatsoever"), and pushed for a
restriction on Japanese movement on the West Coast. In March of 1942, DeWitt
restricted migration from Military Area 1 for "all alien Japanese and persons of
Japanese ancestry." In May of '42, DeWitt issued Civilian Exclusion Order No.
34 , which required Japanese-Americans to be excluded from a portion of Military
Area 1, making those who remained liable for prosecution and excluding only
persons who did not report to an "Assembly Center" (a euphemism for a holding
facility). Public opposition to these actions was fairly limited. The ACLU was
divided and wrote President Roosevelt to say that mass removal was permitted if
individual loyalty could be determined "before or after removal." The government
established a set of concentration camps along the West Coast to which
Japanese-Americans were sent to be detained for the duration of the war.
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This case concerns Mr. Fred Korematsu, who at the time resided in San
Leandro, California within Military Area 1. Mr. Korematsu was arrested on the basis
of the Congressional act making it a misdemeanor to disobey the order of a military
commander and convicted in a federal district court for disobedience to Civilian
Exclusion Order No. 34 given said Congressional act. Mr. Korematsu appealed on
the basis that indefinite detention of Americans based on race violated
Constitutional protections of due process regardless of race.
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Major Aspects of the Issue
The major question in this case is whether or not the powers of the President
over national security and his Constitutional powers of war permit mass detention
of Americans based on racial background. The President has broad powers to
protect the American people from imminent threat. However, amendments the U.S.
Constitution enshrine the due process of law for individuals and make it clear that
this right should not be revoked based on the race of citizens.
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Actors and Interests
The United States Government: The U.S. government asserts that the
detention of Japanese-Americans is required for the protection of the United States
from sabotage, espionage, and increased threat of Japanese invasion. They argue
that the war powers of the President to defend the homeland cannot be tampered
with and that due process of law may be constrained in this circumstance.
Interned Japanese-Americans:
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Discussion Questions
1. Do the war powers of the President permit indefinite detention of citizens and
residents of America during war time?
2. Does the racial basis of the detention violate any amendments to the
Constitution?
3. Did the threat of Japanese invasion constitute a legitimate reason for
detention?
4. How elastic is the due process requirement? Under what conditions may due
process be denied?
5. If indefinite detention was declared unconstitutional, which statutes or acts
would be rendered unconstitutional by this decision?
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Bibliography/Research Links
http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1207.html
https://fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/RL31133.pdf
http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/pearl-harbor
http://landmarkcases.c-span.org/Case/6/Korematsu-v-United-States
https://books.google.com/books?id=55eJCgAAQBAJ&lpg=PA232&ots=c8TA0-y
fWp&dq=taylor%20the%20people%20nobody%20want%201942%2C%20saturda
y%20evening%20post&pg=PA7#v=onepage&q&f=false
http://www.tolerance.org/supplement/timeline
http://encyclopedia.densho.org/Ozawa_v._United_States/
https://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?doc=74&page=transcript
https://www.oyez.org/cases/1940-1955/323us214
https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/323/214/case.html