Japanese American Internment and Constitutional Law Korematsu v United States in United States Reports Volume 323 1945

Korematsu v. United States

First Edition

United States Supreme Court. United States Reports, Volume 323, 1945, contains the official published decision of Korematsu v. United States, a ruling that upheld the incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II on the basis of military necessity. The case arose when Fred Korematsu refused orders to report for removal and detention under federal directives targeting persons of Japanese ancestry on the West Coast. Writing for the majority, Justice Hugo Black concluded that exclusion was justified by concerns over espionage and national security, prioritizing wartime authority over constitutional protections. The decision stands as a central legal articulation of racialized state power in the United States, later challenged and formally repudiated in judicial opinion, including references in Trump v. Hawaii.

United States Supreme Court. United States Reports, Volume 323. Cases Adjudged in the Supreme Court at October Term 1944. Washington: United States Government Printing Office, 1945. First edition. Large octavo volume in original publisher’s cloth, issued without dust jacket.

This volume situates Korematsu within a broader body of wartime jurisprudence that addressed executive authority, civil liberties, and the scope of constitutional rights under conditions of national emergency. The publication preserves the official language of the Court at a moment when federal policy authorized the removal and incarceration of over 110,000 Japanese Americans, most of them U.S. citizens, and provides primary documentation for the study of legal reasoning used to justify such actions. Its continued citation in later legal and political discourse underscores its lasting significance in debates over race, security, and constitutional limits. Previous owner stamp and library card to front pastedown; binding remains sound with clean interior. Overall very good condition.

Item #20929

Price: $785.00