"No one denies, of course, that there were some disloyal persons of Japanese descent on the Pacific Coast who did all in their power to aid their ancestral land. Similar disloyal activities have been engaged in by many persons of German, Italian and even more pioneer stock in our country. But to infer that examples of individual disloyalty prove group disloyalty and justify discriminatory action against the entire group is to deny that under our system of law individual guilt is the sole basis for deprivation of rights. Moreover, this inference, which is at the very heart of the evacuation orders, has been used in support of the abhorrent and despicable treatment of minority groups by the dictatorial tyrannies which this nation is now pledged to destroy. To give constitutional sanction to that inference in this case, however well-intentioned may have been the military command on the Pacific Coast, is to adopt one of the cruelest of the rationales used by our enemies to destroy the dignity of the individual and to encourage and open the door to discriminatory actions against other minority groups in the passions of tomorrow."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Justices of the Supreme Court of the United StatesUnited States Attorneys GeneralLawyers from the United StatesPoliticians from MichiganLegal scholars
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
p. 323 U.S. 240
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Frank_Murphy
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Frank Murphy
William Francis Murphy (April 13, 1890 – July 19, 1949) was an American politician, lawyer, and jurist from Michigan. He was a Democrat who was named to the Supreme Court of the United States in 1940 after a political career that included serving as United States Attorney General, 35th governor of Michigan, and Mayor of Detroit. He also served as the last Governor-General of the Philippines and the first High Commissioner to the Philippines.
14 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Frank Murphy →
Related Quotes
"Individual rights have been recognized by our jurisprudence only after long and costly struggles. They should not be …"
"Common sense and justice dictate that a citizen accused of a crime should have the fullest hearing possible, plus the…"
"Experience demonstrates that in time of war individual liberties cannot always be entrusted safely to uncontrolled ad…"
"Criminal punishment for disobedience of an arbitrary and invalid order is objectionable regardless of whether the ord…"
"That an individual should languish in prison for five years without being accorded the opportunity of proving that th…"
"This exclusion of "all persons of Japanese ancestry, both alien and non-alien," from the Pacific Coast area on a plea…"
"The judicial test of whether the Government, on a plea of military necessity, can validly deprive an individual of an…"
"It must be conceded that the military and naval situation in the spring of 1942 was such as to generate a very real f…"
"The main reasons relied upon by those responsible for the forced evacuation, therefore, do not prove a reasonable rel…"
"No adequate reason is given for the failure to treat these Japanese Americans on an individual basis by holding inves…"