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​Frustrated and betrayed by his country, Fred Korematsu brought his indictment to the Supreme Court, and challenged the United States. He argued that the U.S. Congress, subsequent military orders, and ultimately, the President, had no power to initiate such an order. Korematsu also alleged that under the U.S. Constitution, the government had no authority to apply the orders solely to those people of Japanese decent because it discriminated against the Japanese based on race alone. Korematsu referenced the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution which states: "No person shall...be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law." Despite Korematsu's allegations against Congress, the Supreme Court stated that the Court did not rule on the constitutionality of internment based on race. They claimed that the Executive Order and succeeding military orders were put into action and deemed necessary due to the national crisis and emergency. On December 18, 1944, the United States Supreme Court ruled six to three in favor of the U.S. and in support of the arrest of Fred Korematsu. 



The ruling of the Supreme Court in the case of Korematsu v. the United States clearly stated that the internment of the Japanese was not based upon race, but that the order was deemed necessary in a time of national emergency because it was imperative to preserve both the security of the nation and its citizens. Benjamin Cohen, Oscar Cox and Joseph Rauh, all men part of the Roosevelt administration noted: "In time of national peril any reasonable doubt must be resolved in favor of action to preserve the national safety, not for the purpose of punishing those whose liberty may be temporarily affected by such action, but for the purpose of protecting the freedom of the nation which may be impaired, if not permanently lost, by non-action" (Robinson, 2001). This was President Roosevelt's reasoning behind signing the order. 



Furthermore, it is important to note that when the nation's security is threatened, the President does have supreme and utter authority over all affairs, even if that means disregarding the Constitution. Article II, Section 2 of the Constitution gives the President this power as Commander in Chief of the military. This allows him to issue orders to aid the military to carry out subsequent duties in order to preserve the peace of the nation. Thus, the President's power to issue Order 9066 is deemed Constitutional. Moreover, under the Alien Act of 1798, the U.S. may "apprehend, intern and otherwise restrict the freedom of 'alien enemies' upon declaration of war or actual, attempted or threatened invasion by a foreign nation" (Landmark, 1944). 



In the Supreme Court ruling, Justice Black denied that racial prejudice had anything to do with the case and stated: "Korematsu was not excluded from the Military Area because of the hostility to him or his race, he was excluded because the U.S. [we] are at war with the Japanese Empire. The military urgency of the situation demanded that all citizens of Japanese ancestry be segregated from the West Coast" (Supreme Court, 1944).