Hirabayashi v. United States 1943

Could a wartime curfew be applied to people of Japanese ancestry?

320 U.S. 81 (1943)War and national security

The question: Could a wartime curfew be applied to people of Japanese ancestry?
What the Court held: Yes. The Court upheld the curfew as within the war power. His conviction was vacated by a federal appeals court in 1987.
The vote: 9–0
Era: World War II
Read the opinion: 320 U.S. 81 (1943), full text

This page summarizes the Court’s judgment in neutral terms. The opinion, concurrences and dissents are the authority; read them for the reasoning.

Where the question came from. The events behind it.

1942

Executive Order 9066

February 19, 1942 · Emergency and war powers

President Franklin D. Roosevelt authorizes military commanders to exclude people from designated areas. About 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry, most of them American citizens, are removed from the West Coast and incarcerated.

Source: National Archives