Koreatsu V. United States Case Study

The importance of the Supreme Court case Korematsu v. United States can be understood by examining the history of the case, the arguments and decisions made in the court, and the lasting impact it had in the United States. As Supreme Court Justice, Antonin Scalia said, “Inter arma enim silent leges… In times of war, the laws fall silent.” The decision of Korematsu v. United States was made due to the hardships of war that will forever be a reminder of the injustice fear creates.

After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the Federal Bureau of Investigation began to interrogate Japanese-Americans for espionage (“Fred Korematsu” Tim Watts). Many American citizens with Japanese ancestry were also asked to renounce their allegiance to the Japanese Emperor and swear unqualified allegiance to the United States (“Korematsu (1944)”). But after the signing of the Executive Order 9066 by president Franklin D. Roosevelt, the Bureau began to force all Japanese-Americans and alien residents in the West coast to be placed into internment centers. The Presidential Executive Order allowed military commanders to establish any area as a military zone as well as restrict certain activities

and order exclusions. The military was given congressional statutes to remove citizens of Japanese ancestry from to places they deemed critical to national defense (“Korematsu,” Oyez).
The internment camps brought emotional and physical pain to those forced into them. Many of those Japanese-Americans were also forced to sell their homes and belongings (“The Legacy,” Dean Hashimoto). Since Americans knew very little about what was being done to those of Japanese ancestry, there was little to no defiance. A government film released in 1942 named “Japanese Relocation,” explained where and why the Japanese-Americans were being relocated. The movie claimed the internment working camps were created due to the Japanese-Americans’ lack of full alliance to the United States (“Korematsu 1944”).
Few Japanese-Americans were able to stand up against the government.

In the Hirabayashi v. United States case, Hirabayashi petitions the government for setting a curfew restriction within the internment camps. The Supreme Court ruled against Hirabayashi due to fear of espionage (“Korematsu,” West). After the military began filling the internment camps, some hid from their grasps. Fred Korematsu refused to give himself up. He went by the alias, Clyde Sarah, and even surgically altered his eyelids to appear less Asian, but was later arrested in San Leandro, California for violating the Civil Exclusion Order No. 34 made by the military. While in jail, Ernest Besig explained to Fred that he could take his situation to court to test the constitutionality of the Executive Order 9066 (“Fred Korematsu” Tim

Watts).