Would Korematsu Be Decided Differently Today?
Just as many of us have assumed Brandenburg and the Pentagon Papers case will remain the law, so too many of us have assumed that the notorious Korematsu case will not. But this assumption, too, may be inaccurate. In 1944’s Korematsu case, in a ruling with which many are familiar, the Supreme Court upheld the President’s Executive Order 9066. The Order forced relocation and internment of Japanese-Americans as well as their Japanese-national parents who, though resident aliens, were ineligible to become American citizens under then-existing American naturalization law. In passionate dissent, Justice Roberts termed the internment camps “concentration camps.” In 1988, the United States formally apologized and even paid compensation to those affected. Korematsu, however, remains on the books; the Court has never formally overruled it. No one familiar with recent defenses of the rationality of “racial” or, more accurately, national origin/religious profiling can be confident that Korematsu
Related Questions
- From the Today Interview (July 2005) Katie Couric: Not many adult journalists are being given this opportunity so Im very, very flattered. And why have you decided to keep the number of grownups at a minimum?
- The Commission decided today to prepare the addition of DVB-H to the list of standards in the EUs Official Journal. What is the legal effect of this public support for DVB-H?
- What are the meat substitutions on the market today?
