Korematsu v. United States · ¶12

We uphold the exclusion order as of the time it was made and when the petitioner violated it. Cf. Chastleton Corporations. Sinclair, 264 U. S. 543, 547; Block v. Hirsh, 256 U. S. 135, 154-5. In doing so, we are not unmindful of the hardships imposed by it upon a large group of American citizens. Cf. Ex parte Kawato, 317 U.S. 69, 73. But hardships are part of war, and war is an aggregation of hardships. All citizens alike, both in and out of uniform, feel the impact of war in greater or lesser measure. Citizenship has its responsibilities as well as its privileges, and in time of war the burden is always heavier. Compulsory exclusion of large groups of citizens from their homes, except under circumstances of direst emergency and peril, is inconsistent with our basic governmental institutions. But when under conditions of modern warfare our shores are threatened by hostile forces, the…

U. S. Reports, bound volume
U. S. Reports, volume 323, at 214 (Library of Congress) · transcription: Caselaw Access Project
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