Tag Archives: Korematsu

Landmark Mistakes of the Supreme Court, Part 3

Al Gore

Al Gore

The decision in Bush v Gore is widely regarded as a landmark mistake, both because the Supreme Court acted politically and because of President Bush’s accomplishments and legacy.

While it is too recent for a historical consensus, and too political to be without controversy, virtually all liberals and progressives view the results of Bush v Gore, 2000, (Cornell Law School / Wikipedia) as disastrous based on the Bush Administration’s environmental, economic, and foreign policies, i.e., the Bush tax cuts, ignoring intelligence regarding Osama bin Laden on 6, August, 2011 (here), not killing bin Laden when we allegedly had him cornered in Tora Bora in 2001 (here), the War in Iraq, appointments of John Roberts and Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court, etc.

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Landmark Mistakes of the Supreme Court, Part 2

Fred Korematsu as a young man

If Dred Scott, Citizen’s United, and Florence v Burlington are the three worst decisions by the United States Supreme Court, (post here) then Korematsu v United States, Dec. 18, 1944, Plessy v Ferguson, May 18, 1896 are next in line.

In Korematsu v United States, decided Dec. 18, 1944, the Supreme Court upheld Executive Order 9066, authorizing the internment of all Americans of Japanese ancestry. Mr. Korematsu is biographed here.

Plessy v Ferguson, decided on May 18, 1896, enabled segregation. This was overruled by Brown v Bd. of Education, May 17, 1954, with the now famous observation that “separate but equal is inherently unequal.”