| Yasui v. United States | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Argued May 10–11, 1943 Decided June 21, 1943 | |
| Full case name | Minoru Yasui v. United States |
| Citations | 320 U.S. 115 (more) 63 S. Ct. 1392, 87 L. Ed. 1793, 1943 U.S. LEXIS 461 |
| Case history | |
| Prior | U.S. v. Minoru Yasui, 48 F. Supp. 40 (D. Or. 1942) Certificate from the Circuit Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit |
| Subsequent | United States v. Minoru Yasui, 51 F. Supp. 234 (D. Or. 1943) |
| Holding | |
| The Court held that the application of curfews against citizens was constitutional. | |
| Court membership | |
| |
| Case opinion | |
| Majority | Stone, joined by unanimous |
| Laws applied | |
| 18 U.S.C.A. s 97a Executive Order 9066 U.S. Const. | |
Yasui v. United States, 320 U.S. 115 (1943), was a United States Supreme Court case regarding the constitutionality of curfews used during World War II when they were applied to citizens of the United States.[1] The case arose out of the implementation of Executive Order 9066 by the U.S. military to create zones of exclusion along the West Coast of the United States, where Japanese Americans were subjected to curfews and eventual removal to relocation centers. This Presidential order followed the attack on Pearl Harbor that brought America into World War II and inflamed the existing anti-Japanese sentiment in the country.
In their decision, the Supreme Court held that the application of curfews against citizens is constitutional. As a companion case to Hirabayashi v. United States, both decided on June 21, 1943, the court affirmed the conviction of U.S.-born Minoru Yasui. The court remanded the case to the district court for sentencing as the lower court had determined the curfew was not valid against citizens, but Yasui had forfeited his citizenship by working for the Japanese consulate. The Yasui and Hirabayashi decisions, along with the later Ex parte Endo and Korematsu v. United States decisions, determined the legality of the curfews and relocations during the war. In the 1980s, new information was used to vacate the conviction of Yasui.