Korematsu v.

United States
When the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor on December
7, 1941, destroying much of the American Pacific leet,
the American military became concerned about the
security of the mainland !nited "tates, particularly along
the West #oast$ %he Japanese military had achie&ed
significant and s'ift success throughout the Pacific$
(any Americans turned their fear and outrage o&er the
actions of the Japanese go&ernment on people of
Japanese descent, both citi)ens and non*citi)ens, li&ing
la'fully in the !nited "tates$
At the time, appro+imately 11,,--- people of Japanese
descent li&ed on the West #oast, about 7-,--- of these
'ere American citi)ens$ (any Japanese Americans had
close cultural ties 'ith their homeland, sending children
home for schooling and e&en collecting tinfoil and money
to send to Japan during its 'ar 'ith #hina$ At the time,
ho'e&er, there 'as no pro&en case of espionage or
sabotage on the part of Japanese or Japanese
Americans in the !nited "tates$
.onetheless, in ebruary 194,, /eneral DeWitt, the
commanding officer of the Western Defense #ommand,
recommended that 0Japanese and other sub&ersi&e
persons1 be e&acuated from the Pacific #oast
President ran2lin D$ 3oose&elt acted on this
recommendation by signing 4+ecuti&e 5rder 9-66$ %his
authori)ed the "ecretary of War or any designated
commander, at their sole discretion, to limit and e&en
prohibit some people from being in certain areas$ %he
ensuing restrictions on people of Japanese origin
included curfe's and forced remo&al to assembly and
relocation centers much farther inland$ 3elocation to
these centers 'as called internment$ (ost 'ere re7uired
to li&e in barrac2s, many of 'hich did not ha&ing running
'ater or coo2ing facilities$ %hey 'ere only allo'ed to
bring basic personal items$ %hus, many suffered hea&y
financial losses 'hen they 'ere forced to 7uic2ly sell
their homes, &ehicles, and other belongings$ "oon after
the order 'as enacted, #ongress sanctioned the
e+ecuti&e order by passing a la' that imposed penalties
for those 'ho &iolated the restrictions that e&ol&ed from
the order$
red 8orematsu 'as an American*born citi)en of
Japanese descent 'ho gre' up in 5a2land, #alifornia$
When Japanese internment began in #alifornia,
8orematsu e&aded the order and mo&ed to a nearby
to'n$ He 'as later arrested and con&icted of &iolating
4+clusion 5rder .o$ 94 issued by /eneral DeWitt, 'hich
barred all persons of Japanese descent from the 0military
area1 of "an :eandro, #alifornia$
8orematsu challenged his con&iction on the grounds that
the relocation orders 'ere beyond the po'ers of
#ongress, the military authorities and the President$ He
also asserted that to apply these orders only to those of
Japanese ancestry amounted to constitutionally
prohibited discrimination based on race$ %he go&ernment
argued that the e+clusion and internment of Japanese
Americans 'as ;ustified because it 'as necessary to the
'ar effort$ %hey said there 'as e&idence that some
Japanese Americans 'ere in&ol&ed in espionage, and
argued that because there 'as no 'ay to tell the loyal
from the disloyal, all Japanese Americans had to be
treated as though they 'ere disloyal$
%he federal appeals court ruled in fa&or of the !nited