Koremastu Vs United States : Internment Of Only Japanese Americans Was Valid
In Koremastu Vs. United States (1944 ), the Supreme Court upheld the internment of only Japanese Americans from military areas during second world war on the ground.
What were facts of Koremastu Vs United States ?
Japan had attacked Pearl Harbor in December 1941. To tackle the situation President D. Roosevelt issued order authorizing military for creation of military areas. Military was given discretion to remove American citizens as well as non-American citizens from such areas. A military area was created and Japanese Americans were forces to leave the military area and relocate to relocation camps. One of Japanese Koremastu challenged this before the Supreme Court.
What were findings of the Supreme Court in Koremastu Vs United States ?
Koresmastu challenged his interment on the ground that his interment violated Fifth Amendment of the Constitution. The Supreme Court did not interfere in the actions of the Military. The Supreme Court held that Mr. Koremastu had not been relocated on account of his race but rather due to war with the Japanese empire. The relevant para is as under:
Koremastu was not excluded from the Military Area because of hostility to him or his race. He was excluded because we are at war with the Japanese Empire, because the properly constituted military authorities feared an invasion of our West Coast and felt constrained to take proper security measures, because they decided that the military urgency of the situation demanded that all citizens of Japanese ancestry be segregated from the West Coast temporarily, and, finally, because Congress, reposing its confidence in this time of war in our military leaders- as inevitably it must determine that they should have the power to do just this.
Koremastu Vs United States
The Supreme Court applied the Strict Scrutiny principle to review racial discrimination and held that racial discrimination was permissible in this case. Koremastu is considered as one of the worst decisions of the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court in Trump Vs Hawaii has held that Koremastu was wrongly decided and has no place under the Constitution.
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Mukesh Kumar Suman is an advocate and legal author based at Delhi. He regularly appears before various Judicial Forums including NCLT, NCLAT, High Courts and the Supreme Court. He can be approached at mukesh_suman@outlook.com or +91 9717864570.