Korematsu v. United States
Citation
323 U.S. 214 (1944)
Facts
During World War II, Executive Order 9066 authorized the military to exclude persons of Japanese ancestry from designated West Coast military areas. Fred Korematsu, a U.S. citizen of Japanese descent born in California, refused to leave his home and was convicted for violating the exclusion order. He challenged the constitutionality of the order on Equal Protection grounds.
Issue
Does a military exclusion order targeting citizens on the basis of Japanese ancestry violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fifth Amendment?
Holding
No. The Supreme Court upheld the exclusion order, 6–3, holding that racial classifications in times of military emergency survive the “most rigid scrutiny” when justified by pressing public necessity — here, the military’s assertion of security needs on the West Coast.
Rule / Doctrine
Korematsu is the first case to articulate that racial classifications are subject to strict scrutiny (“most rigid scrutiny”), yet the Court upheld the classification anyway under wartime military deference. It illustrates that strict scrutiny is not always “fatal in fact” and that courts may defer to the political branches in claimed emergencies even at the cost of civil liberties.
Significance
Korematsu is widely regarded as among the most discredited decisions in Supreme Court history. It was formally repudiated in Trump v. Hawaii (2018), where the Court acknowledged Korematsu was “gravely wrong the day it was decided.” It is taught as a cautionary tale about the failure of judicial review to protect minority groups under extreme political pressure.