Court Case Of Korematsu V. United States

Korematsu v United States was a court case that argued that the orders provided to Korematsu were based on race only and were contradictory. Because they were only based on race, Korematsu argued they were unconstitutional. Korematsu argued he had contradictory orders, and, no matter what he did, he would have violated one of them. However, the United States argued that the government has different powers during peace time and war time. The government executed the orders to provide better security to the American people, and therefore the orders were constitutional. The court decided Korematsu was guilty of disobeying the orders by the court because ensuring American safety is more important than Korematsu’s rights.

Justice Black and Justice
In his argument, Justice Black stated the laws were not put in place solely because of race. Instead, the laws were used to protect against espionage and invasion of the West Coast. Black believed the military officers were permitted to assign designated areas for citizens. This was not because of race, but because of the need to take proper security measures in order to protect American citizens. In failing to go to the area, Korematsu put himself and others at risk. Furthermore, Black argued that because Congress gave the military leaders the power to assign Military Areas, it was allowed for the leaders to execute that power. Black argued that orders did not discriminate against Korematsu because of his race, but because of security measurements needed for the conditions of the war. The priority of security and safety were greater than that of Korematsu’s rights. Black decided Korematsu was guilty by knowingly not going to the assigned area, and thereby Korematsu disobeyed the wartime security measurements of the United States
Justice Murphy stated that the orders were a violation of the Constitution, because they were discriminatory and deprived American citizens from their rights. In order for the laws to take away constitutional rights, is to have the danger of not having the laws imminent. In Justice Murphy’s opinion, the danger was no imminent so the orders were unconstitutional. Also, Justice Murphy said the orders were in violation of the Fifth Amendment. Justice Murphy stated that the Japanese-Americans did not receive due process, another violation of rights. As such, Korematsu was innocent, because he was unlawfully discriminated against by the United States. Justice Murphy argued that because the orders were unconstitutional because they deprived citizens of their rights, Korematsu was