Korematsu v. United States After the United States entered World War II, President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066. Fred Korematsu was a natural born citizen to Japanese immigrant parents. Korematsu refused to obey the curfew and was charged and convicted of violating order 9066. He appealed this conviction and the Supreme Court took his case. In a 6 to 3 decision, the court ruled in favor of the United States government. Despite this Korematsu continued to fight this conviction throughout his life. His hard work eventually paid off. Fred Korematsu was not alone. There were other Japanese Americans who opposed the Executive Order. Even though reparations were made, the wrongdoing can never be undone. To this day, the internment …show more content…
His generation, called Nisei, were born in America to Japanese parents. After the U.S. entered WWII, Fred tried to enlist in the Coast Guard and the National Guard but was turned down because of his race. He then became a welder working on several docks in Oakland. One day he came to work only to learn that he had been fired because of the Executive Order. Korematsu defied the order by continuing American life as usual. He was arrested in San Leandro, California and taken to county jail. In jail, he was visited by the director of the San Francisco office of the American Civil Liberties Union. Ernest Besig, the director, asked Korematsu if he wanted to challenge the constitutionality of the Executive Order. He was convicted in a federal court of violated the Executive Order 9066. Korematsu was sentenced to a five year probation. Fred appealed his conviction and the Supreme Court took his …show more content…
Many think that nothing was ever done to correct what happened and in some ways nothing ever can, despite Reagan signing the Redress and Reparation law. To this day, our country struggles with wartime powers. In WWII, the government fell prey to suspicion and hysteria when they issued Executive Order 9066. The government uprooted the lives of thousands of Japanese Americans just because they “might” be loyal to the home of their ancestors. The camps were not high in quality and the internees lived in poor conditions. There were other ways the government could ensure the security of the nation and prevent against espionage. The internment of Japanese Americans remains a dark moment in America’s record of civil