Christian Mussenden February 22nd, 2104 History Red Grossman

Japanese Internment Letter to the Editor

The article, Japanese-American Internment reveals that the imprisonment of the entire minority group was more than unethical, it was unconstitutional. A few months after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 authorizing any military commander to exclude any person from any area (Japanese-American Internment, 2). The order to put all Japanese Americans into internment camps was a constitutional wartime measure. During a war, The Constitution can be interpreted differently then it would be during times of peace. The government can suspend habeas corpus in cases when invasion threatens public safety (US Const. art. I, sec. 9). In 1941, Japanese invasion of the West Coast and Hawaii was thought to be almost inevitable. To prevent our national defenses being sabotaged by sleeper agents, Roosevelt suspended habeas corpus and put all Japanese Americans into internment camps. Although the invasion never came, the preemptive measure taken to prevent an invasion from happening during one of Americas most fragile times was indeed necessary. By June of 1942, the Continental United States was no longer under threat of invasion, but the threat of a powerful Japanese counter offensive made the suspension of habeas corpus necessary and justified.

Christian Mussenden February 22nd, 2104 History Red Grossman

Works Cited Japanese-American Internment Article US Const. amend. V. Cornell University Law School. Web. 23 Feb. 2014. <http://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/fifth_amendment>. US Const. art. I, sec. 9. Cornell University Law School. Web. 23 Feb. 2014. <http://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/articlei#section9>.