Nishikawa v. Dulles

Nishikawa v. Dulles
Argued May 1–2, 1957
Reargued October 28, 1957
Decided March 31, 1958
Full case nameMitsugi Nishikawa v. John Foster Dulles, Secretary of State
Citations356 U.S. 129 (more)
78 S.Ct. 612; 2 L. Ed. 2d 659; 1958 U.S. LEXIS 1285
Case history
Prior235 F.2d 135 (9th Cir. 1956); cert. granted, 352 U.S. 907 (1956).
Holding
Citizenship may only be forfeited by a voluntary act; the Government must prove voluntariness by clear, convincing and unequivocal evidence.
Court membership
Chief Justice
Earl Warren
Associate Justices
Hugo Black · Felix Frankfurter
William O. Douglas · Harold H. Burton
Tom C. Clark · John M. Harlan II
William J. Brennan Jr. · Charles E. Whittaker
Case opinions
MajorityWarren, joined by Black, Douglas, Brennan, Whittaker
ConcurrenceBlack, joined by Douglas
ConcurrenceFrankfurter (in result), joined by Burton
DissentHarlan, joined by Clark
Laws applied
Nationality Act of 1940

Nishikawa v. Dulles, 356 U.S. 129 (1958), is a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court ruled that a dual United States/Japanese citizen who had served in the Japanese military during World War II could not be denaturalized unless the United States could prove that he had acted voluntarily.[1]

Mitsugi Nishikawa, born in California to Japanese parents, went to Japan to study, and he was conscripted into the Japanese military in early 1941. After the end of the war, Nishikawa was informed by US officials that he had lost his citizenship because he had served in a foreign army. His case was eventually reviewed by the Supreme Court, which decided that the burden of proof must be on the government to prove that Nishikawa's Japanese military service was undertaken voluntarily before he could be stripped of his citizenship.

  1. ^ Nishikawa v. Dulles, 356 U.S. 129 (1958). Public domain This article incorporates public domain material from this U.S government document.