Korematsu v. United States

U.S. Case Law

323 U.S. 214 (1944), sanctioned the government's wartime internment of Japanese-American residents of the West Coast. The petitioner, Fred Korematsu, was charged with violating a restricted zone and failing to report to an assembly area as required under the presidential order that created the relocation camps. The Court did not ultimately examine the constitutionality of the government forcing people into detention but simply debated the action of Korematsu, finding against him in a 6–3 vote. In dissent, Justice Frank Murphy denounced the decision as the “legalization of racism.”