The Pros And Cons Of Internment

Japanese Internment can not be justified by the United States government. The United States government, in the twentieth century can not justify the Internment of Japanese Americans and their families. Many will argue that in times of war that difficult decisions and choices have to be made on behalf of the nation at war. World War II highlighted the actions of a nation, embracing and expediting the actions and decisions while not seeing the long term consequence of such decisions. People in support of the war and the policies of our government, will argue that they needed to make the war more efficient to shorten the war and spare our nation needless lost of life. Can a society sacrifice moral principles as they blur the lines of its citizens and its enemies?

The Korematsu v. United States (1943), case was seen as a case of racism from General DeWitt, interest groups and particular members of the Supreme Court. Justice Black delivered the opinion of the court. Concerns pressing public necessity justified the existence of the legal restriction, which curtailed the civil rights of an American Citizen

In dissenting Justice Owen Roberts felt the facts presented exhibited a clear violation of Constitutional rights. It is he stated “not a case of keeping people off the streets at night, nor a case of temporary exclusion from an area for safety reasons . . . It is the case of convicting a citizen as a punishment to not going into imprisonment in a concentration camp. In addition, if a citizen were forced to obey two laws and obedience

On December 7, 1941, the Empire of Japan attacked the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, bringing the United States into World War II (Prange et al., 1981: p.174). On February 19, 1942, United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066 authorizing the Secretary of War and Military Commanders to prescribe areas of land as excludable military zones (Roosevelt, 1942). Effectively, this order sanctioned the identification, deportation, and internment of innocent Japanese Americans in War Relocation Camps across the western half of the United States. During the spring and summer of 1942, it is estimated that almost 120,000 Japanese Americans were relocated from their homes along the West Coast and in Hawaii and

In the landmark case of Korematsu v. United States the Supreme Court was correct in the ruling because the executive order that was issued became a law to protect the country from persons that had close ethnic ties to the enemy and made all people that the government deemed a threat to national security into prisoners. Although this was against moral standards, it was a necessity at the time to protect the country. While it may seem that it was just the Japanese that were prosecuted, it was also Americans of German and Italian heritage that were also persecuted. This executive order infringed on the rights of American citizens based on their ethnic background. This isn’t right because as said in the constitution everyone has the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

United States for Fred Korematsu who was internment into the Japanese-American internment had his conviction overturned as a result of information showing the government had withheld vital evidence from the both the Supreme Court and Mr. Korematsu’s defense team. Not only it held that the order leading to the detention of Japanese Americans during World War II was not unconstitutional. The opinion, written by Supreme Court Justice Hugo L. Black, held that the need to protect against espionage outweighed Fred Korematsu's individual rights, and the rights of Americans of Japanese

In 1942, during the early stages of the second World War, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt set in place Executive Order 9066 in response to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. The executive order allowed American citizens of Japanese descent to be banned from certain areas deemed critical for American national security and granted Japanese internment camps to be used during the war (Konkoly, “Korematsu v. United States”). Fred Korematsu was a Japanese American living in California at the time when the order went into action who was well aware that he would soon be removed from his home as it was in a critical part of the nation but was set on staying in his home. When the order did come for Korematsu to remove himself from his home, he refused and was convicted for disobeying the law. Fred Korematsu knew that if he resisted the law his chances of being arrested and brought to court were very high, but he believed that Executive Order 9066 violated his Fourteenth Amendment and he was willing to risk arrest to protest the violation of his civil

Fred Korematsu and Gordon Hirabayashi were two men who refused to report to the evacuation center when all Japanese people were being forced to relocate. Relocation began in April 1942 and these two men challenged President Roosevelt’s executive order 9066, that stated, “All persons of Japanese ancestry, both alien and non-alien, will be evacuated (Takaki 344).” Korematsu and Hirabayashi were both arrested, convicted, and sent to prison (Takaki 345). Their cases later went to the Supreme Court but the government policy said them getting convicted and sent to prison was a military necessity (Takaki 345). Both were sent to Guantanamo Bay where Mr.Kore challenged the detainment of the prisoners (Takaki 345). Since the Pearl Harbor was

Justices Black, Frankfurter, Stone, Reed, Douglas, and Rutledge agreed with the majority opinion. After taking into consideration the fact that the United States was now at war with the Japanese Empire because of the mass bombing at Pearl Harbor, they believed that the U.S. government should be able to single out certain racial groups and detain them in times of emergency and peril. However, Justices Roberts, Murphy, and Jackson did not. They believed that this action was unconstitutional and goes against Korematsu’s

In 1942, Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066. This authorized the removal of Japanese people, both aliens and American citizens, from certain zones, mostly in remote parts of the American west, and placed them into detention centers and internment camps. He also issued Executive Order 9102, which created the War Relocation Authority to oversee this relocation. The internment camps were like prisons, with harsh, uncomfortable conditions; occasionally, actual former prisons were used. The camps were often located in the mountains. The most famous internment camps were Manzanar, in California, and Heart Mountain, in Wyoming. While the Japanese were gone, whites who used to be their neighbors often took their property. In 1944, Japanese American Fred Korematsu brought a lawsuit against the United States government to the Supreme Court, arguing against the constitutionality of Executive Order 9066. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of the government, putting military considerations above the individual rights of Korematsu as a citizen and furthering the idea of individual freedoms being overruled in times of war.

Fred Korematsu, is a natural born citizen with Japanese ancestry who refused to leave his home. He was convicted for violating military orders issued under Executive Order 9066. Korematsu challenged the United States government by saying that the government does not have the power to have relocation orders and

On December 7, 1941 the Japanese empire attacked Pearl Harbor. 2,400 Americans were killed and 1,200 injured. President Franklin D. Roosevelt immediately took action. In February 19, 1942 he signed the executive order 9066. This executive order gave military army’s immense power. They were to take everyone with Japanese ancestry to internment camps were they would be held captive. All of these military areas would exclude all the people of Japanese ancestry, just because they were considered “dangerous”. The Japanese people did not know if they would be imprisoned or deported. They would be imprisoned or deported even if they only had 1/16th of Japanese blood.

To combat possible attacks from within, a Presidential Executive Order was established with the support of Congress. This Order called for the immediate segregation of all people of Japanese ancestry into camps. Fred Korematsu, a Japanese man whose parents emigrated here from Japan, decided to remain in San Leandro, California, and thus was convicted of violating the exclusion order. His case made it to the Supreme Court after Korematsu’s defense questioned the constitutionality of the

World War II dramatically altered everyday life in the United States. Japan launched a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor in Hawaii on December 1941. The day after the attack, Great Britain and the United States declared war on Japan and two days later, Germany and Italy declared war on the United States. During the course of the war, food, gas and clothing were rationed and the search for scrap metal to build armaments became an increasing need. Because the men were now sent to war, women were forced to find employment as electricians, welders and riveters.

However the second generation Asian Americans often did not tolerate racism and fought for many of their rights. Due to the increase of Asian population in America during the 1900s and an increase of diverse assimilation, Asian Americans tends to strive toward educational success in order to use their knowledge of the law as an advantage to fight for their rights. For example, the Supreme Court case Korematsu vs. United States concerns the constitutionality of Executive Order 9066 which was an order given by President Roosevelt to authorize all Japanese ancestry and resident aliens from Japan to an intern camp. Fred Korematsu, a Japanese-American was arrested because of his refusal to obey the order of leaving his home while being forced to report to a relocation camp. Although the court sided with the government, Fred Korematsu questioned whether the President and Congress action of the deportation order was constitutional and raised the awareness of where the boundaries of powers between the President and the Constitution really