Constitutional Protections In Time Of War Case Study

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1. Why does Jackson believe that even though military authorities have the power to violate constitutional protections in time of war, the courts should not approve their actions? Justice Jackson believes that even though military authorities have the power to violate constitutional protections in time of war, the courts should not approve their actions because the orders could very well be unconstitutional and are not legitimate legislative laws. Jackson argues that it is a military program that is being carried out and states "…He [General DeWitt] issues orders, and they may have a certain authority as military commands, although they may be very bad a constitutional law" (Foner 208). The policy, being only temporary, is not a …show more content…
As Justice Jackson mentioned "A citizen 's presence in the locality, however, was made a crime only if his parents were of Japanese birth" (Foner 206), meaning that Korematsu 's predicament was caused solely due to the fact that he was born to Japanese parents. If Korematsu had been German or Italian, U.S. authorities would have left him alone, but, because he was Japanese he was targeted. This comes despite the fact that Korematsu had been both born on American soil and a United States citizen and had never publicly said anything ill-intended in regards to the country. However, none of this mattered, as shown when Justice Jackson went on to state that "The difference between their [Germans and Italians] innocence and his [Korematsu 's] crime would result…in that he was born of different racial stock" (Foner 206). This captures the epitome of the differences in experiences of Japanese-Americans from that of Americans whose ancestors came from Germany or Italy, as General DeWitt 's orders had specifically targeted those of Japanese descent.
3. The internment of Japanese-Americans is considered a "dark spot" of American history and isn 't talked about much. What do you think about this piece of history? Do we still continue
…show more content…
I have even seen countless of images and posts on social media comparing Donald Trump and his beliefs to that of Adolf Hitler, which stems from Trump 's public condemning of Muslims. So, when reading that Donald Trump compared himself to President Roosevelt, I was appalled. As we know, Mr. Trump advocates the banning of Muslims from entering the United States, specifically in the wake of the San Bernardino attacks. Despite supporting a ban, Trump did claim that he "…rejected the idea that he was advocating the internment of Muslim Americans" (Calamur). However, Trump justified his beliefs by comparing himself to FDR, stating "…If you look at what he was doing, it was far worse" (Nowicki and Sanchez), in reference to the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II. While yes, the interment policy was unconstitutional and wrong, it was also "…viewed as a civil-rights outrage and a blemish on FDR 's presidency" (Nowicki and Sanchez). With this in mind, why would Donald Trump seek justification for his ban based off of a policy that was unethical and a "dark spot" in American

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