World War II: Korematsu v. United States

The Supreme Court decision in Korematsu v. United States (December 1944) approved internment of Japanese Americans on a claim of " Military necessity"- the possibility of a Japanese attack on America's West Coast. The war power of congress and the executive to exclude those of Japanese ancestry from the west coast war area in which one's home is located is a far greater deprivation than constant confinement to the home from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. Nothing short of apprehension by the proper military authorities of the gravest imminent danger to the public safety can constitutionally justify eithe…