Korematsu v. United States

This case mentioned the due process of law which denies the government the right, without due process, to deprive people of life, liberty, and property as stated in the fifth and fourteenth amendment. The Equal Protection of Law (equal treatment that must be observed by the government) is also incorporated in this case and is relevant because Japanese-American were not treated equally. Also they were the only minority group to be put to internment camps. The government also did not have probable cause (reasonable cause for issuing a search warrant or making arrest; more than mere suspicion) to force Japanese-Americans into internment camp, which in its own form was imprisonment.

The civil rights (the rights of people to be treated without unreasonable or unconstitutional difference) were at stake here because the government decided that they could be withheld. Tis case involved Suspect Classifications (classifications of people on the basis of their race or ethnicity) because all Japanese--Americans were classified to be spies -even children- just because they were the same race and ethnicity as the people their country was at war with.

Korematsu v. United States

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~Did the President and Congress go beyond their war powers by implementing exclusion and restricting the rights of Americans of Japanese decent?

~Was is constitutional to force Japanese-Americans out of their homes and throw them into an internment camp?

The court sided with the government and held that the need to protect against espionage outweighed Korematsu's (and Japanese-American's) rights. Also Justice Black argued that "compulsory exclusion, though constitutionally suspect, is justified during circumstances of 'emergency and peril'"- meaning the war between the U.S and Japan. The 14th and 5th Amendments were at stake in this case. The due process clause in both the 14th and 5th Amendment (denial of life, liberty, or property by the Government outside the sanction of law) as well as equal protection requirement and eminent domain (both included in the fifth amendment) were at stake.

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The impact on the system was that the government can confine our rights if the nation is in a state of emergency (war). The safety of our country is far more important than individual rights, which is why Japanese-Americans' rights were able to be confined by the government and it was not unconstitutional. A prior case with the same outcome was Hirabayashi v. United States where the SCOTUS held that the "application of curfews against members of a minority group were constitutional when the nation was at war with the country from which that group originated". This case is similar to the Korematsu case because in both cases the rights of a minority group were withheld and denied due to war times.

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The Fifth Amendment of the United States states "No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in the time of War or public danger...nor be deprived of life liberty or property, without due process of law, nor shall private property be taken for public use without just compensation".

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• The legitimacy of the Fifth Amendment was mentioned in this case. Korematsu thought that his 5th amendment rights were being violated by the executive order. He thought that his right to due process was corrupted because the government took their liberty and property without due process. The government forced Japanese-Americans out o their homes (property) and put them into internment camps (liberty). The amendment played a significant role in the Supreme court decision because the SCOTUS decided to rule against Korematsu and detain his 5th amendment rights in a time of war.

1. Korematsu v. United States

August- December 1944

2. Fred Korematsu was a Japanese- American who violated the Civilian Exclusion order because he said it was unconstitutional and violated the fifth amendment. This case was a landmark Supreme Court case concerning the constitutionality of executive order 9066 (issued by F.D.R; its purpose was to deport Japanese Americans to internment camps during WWII regardless of citizenship).

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