Korematsu v. United States | 323 U.S. 214 (1944)

Throughout American history, the Supreme Court has issued its share of controversial decisions. Few opinions, however, have been as infamous as the 1944 case Korematsu versus United States.

In the wake of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, President Roosevelt issued an executive order. The order authorized the military to establish special military areas and limit the right of any person to leave, enter, or remain in these areas.

The military used this authority to issue two orders. First, the orders excluded persons of Japanese descent from the West Coast. Second, the orders commanded Japanese persons in the designated areas to report to “assembly centers,” a euphemism for internment camps.

Fred Korematsu was a Japanese American citizen who refused to report to an assembly center or leave the military area. He was convicted in a federal district court for violating the military order.

Korematsu appealed his conviction, arguing that the exclusion of Japanese Americans constituted a race-based classification and violated the Equal Protection Clause. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the conviction.

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