Korematsu vs. United States(1944)
Issue
Presidential Executive Order 9066 and congressional statutes gave the military authority to disbar citizens of Japanese descent from areas which stated to be critical to national defense and potentially susceptible to espionage during World War Two. However, Fred Toyosaburo Korematsu stayed in San Leandro California and violated Civilian Exclusion order No. 34 of the U.S Army.
Decision
It was a 6 out of 3 decision which sided with the U.S government by stating that the need to protect against espionage outweighed Korematsu’s rights. In giving the majority decision, Hugo Black claimed that compulsory exclusion, no matter how suspicious to the constitution it may be, is justified during circumstances of ‘emergency and peril.’
Impact
The Supreme Court made it known that Japanese Internment Camps, an act of discrimination performed by the United States Government, is constitutional.