Korematsu V. United States

Korematsu v. United States is a supreme Court case that took place during the year of 1944 concerning the constitutionality of Executive Order 9066, which ordered Japanese Americans into internment camps during World War II regardless of citizenship.

Japanese Americans were regarded as a threat to the U.S. President Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066, also know as the Exclusion Order. This Order stated that any descendents or immigrants from enemy nations who might be a threat to U.S. security will have to report for Internment. There were no trials or hearings. They were forced to evacuate and many lost their properties and businesses.

Fred Korematsu refused to go. He was a U.S. citizen with Japanese parents. Fred Korematsu was grabbed by police, handcuffed, and taken to jail. His crime -- defying the order given that American citizens of Japanese descent had to report to internment camps This action violated Korematsu’s basic constitutional rights. The fourth amendment states, "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 government’s actions clearly violated the constitution. As a U.S. citizen he did not have to be treated that way.

Korematsu decided to take his case to court. Korematsu’s case first went to regional court, but he failed and no results came out of it. After this his lawyer appealed to the Supreme Court while he was held in the relocation camp. The Supreme Court decided to take his case, but they made the wrong decision. They decided to uphold the other courts’ decisions by a vote of six to three. Korematsu lost his case. After the war ended, the internment haunted the nation's conscience as well.

In 1948 Congress took the first step in making amends,