Korematsu v. United States (1944) Definition

A U.S. Supreme Court decision upholding the national policy of excluding persons of Japanese ancestry, including those who were U.S. citizens, from designated coastal military zones during World War II. Persons who were excluded were interned in "relocation camps" for the duration of the war. The Court said that the policy was a valid exercise of the nation's war powers.

Though it has since been overruled, Korematsu is still considered relevant and significant today. Korematsu is an early example of the "strict scrutiny" standard of review currently used to evaluate laws and policies based on racial or ethnic classifications. Justice Black, writing for the Court, said, "all legal restrictions which curtail the civil rights of a single racial group are immediately suspect. ... . [C]ourts must subject them to the most rigid scrutiny. Pressing public necessity may sometimes justify the existence of such restrictions; racial antagonism never can." Korematsu v. United States, 323 U.S. 214, 216 (1944).

Deferring to the judgments of the President and military authorities, the Court denied that Korematsu had been discriminated against because of his race. He was excluded, said the Court, not because of his ancestry but because the nation was at war with Japan. Id. at 223.

Korematsu was overruled in Trump v. Hawaii, 585 U.S. ___ (2018) (upholding presidential proclamation denying nationals of certain foreign countries entry to the United States).