{"id":2407034,"date":"2025-02-26T14:13:01","date_gmt":"2025-02-26T19:13:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/durbin-invokes-scotus-ruling-that-upheld-japanese-internment\/"},"modified":"2025-02-26T14:14:27","modified_gmt":"2025-02-26T19:14:27","slug":"durbin-invokes-scotus-ruling-that-upheld-japanese-internment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/durbin-invokes-scotus-ruling-that-upheld-japanese-internment\/","title":{"rendered":"Durbin Invokes SCOTUS Ruling That Upheld Japanese Internment"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">16<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fdurbin-invokes-scotus-ruling-that-upheld-japanese-internment%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2407034&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>During a confirmation hearing for President Donald Trump&#8217;s nominee\u2063 for solicitor general, Dean John Sauer, Democratic Senator Dick Durbin sparked controversy by seemingly defending the Supreme Court&#8217;s 1944 ruling in *Korematsu v.U.S.*, which \u2064upheld the internment of over 120,000\u200b Japanese Americans during World War II. Durbin \u2064questioned Sauer about the implications of noncompliance with court orders, referencing *Korematsu* as a historical case were a court order was\u2062 followed for many years \u2063despite its moral implications.\u2063 Sauer acknowledged that the decision has been largely repudiated and suggested that some historical context needs to be \u200cconsidered in such debates.<\/p>\n<p>Senator Josh Hawley \u200dcriticized Durbin&#8217;s comments, arguing that they amounted to a defense \u2062of a decision widely viewed as morally abhorrent.He emphasized\u200c the \u200dimportance of recognizing\u200b when a court ruling \u2062is unjust \u2062and the duty of officials to consider their moral\u200d stance.Both Sauer and another nominee, Aaron reitz, agreed that blanket statements about court orders are problematic and that specific legal contexts must be taken into account.<\/p>\n<p>The discussion highlighted significant historical judicial decisions\u2062 with morally\u200c questionable outcomes, including *Korematsu* and *Dred Scott v. Sandford*. The hearing opened a\u200b debate about the responsibilities of officials when faced with\u2062 such rulings and the balance between legal obligation \u200dand moral judgment.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>While trying to catch President Donald Trump&rsquo;s solicitor general nominee in a &ldquo;gotcha&rdquo; moment, Democrat Sen. Dick Durbin apparently defended enforcement of the infamous Supreme Court ruling that upheld the internment of more than one hundred thousand Japanese Americans during World War II.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Let&rsquo;s go back to <em>Korematsu<\/em> &mdash; describe for me that circumstance that you think relieved an official from obeying a court order,&rdquo; Durbin said to solicitor general nominee Dean John Sauer. &ldquo;As bad as it was, that court order was followed for years, was it not?&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>In <a href=\"https:\/\/www.uscourts.gov\/about-federal-courts\/educational-resources\/annual-observances\/asian-pacific-american-heritage-month\/korematsu-v-us-balancing-liberties-and-safety\/facts-and-case-summary-korematsu-v-us\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><em>Korematsu v. U.S.<\/em><\/a>, the Supreme Court upheld the internment of 120,000 Japanese civilians during WWII. Sauer said the order &ldquo;has now been, I think, correctly repudiated by virtually everyone.&rdquo;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I just wonder whether some historians might think we&rsquo;d be better off if it hadn&rsquo;t been followed,&rdquo; Sauer said.<\/p>\n<figure>\n<p><span><\/p>\n<blockquote data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Senator Dick Durbin just said it was ok to intern Japanese Americans because a court said it was ok <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/YXYsLjEsnc\">pic.twitter.com\/YXYsLjEsnc<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; kevin smith (@kevin_smith45) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/kevin_smith45\/status\/1894786311002689650?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">February 26, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><\/span> <\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Durbin made the remark while questioning Sauer in his first confirmation <a href=\"https:\/\/www.senate.gov\/isvp\/?auto_play=false&amp;comm=judiciary&amp;filename=judiciary022625&amp;poster=https:\/\/www.judiciary.senate.gov\/assets\/images\/video-poster.png&amp;stt=\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">hearing<\/a> on Feb. 26 &mdash; alongside Harmeet Dhillon, nominee for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/breaking-antrim-co-forensic-report-bombshell-reveals-dominion-machines-were-set-at-68-05-error-ratemeaning-68-05-of-ballots-could-be-sent-out-for-mass-adjudication-giving-individuals-or-ma\/\" title=\"BREAKING: Antrim Co. Forensic Report BOMBSHELL Reveals Dominion Machines Were Set At 68.05% Error Rate\u2026Meaning 68.05% Of Ballots Could Be Sent Out For Mass Adjudication, Giving Individuals Or Machines Ability To Change 68.05% Of Votes\">assistant attorney general<\/a> for civil rights, and Aaron Reitz, nominee for assistant attorney general for the Department of Justice&rsquo;s Office of Legal Policy. If confirmed as solicitor general, Sauer will <a href=\"https:\/\/www.justice.gov\/osg\/about-office\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">oversee<\/a> litigation on behalf of the United States at the Supreme Court.<\/p>\n<p>The exchange started when Durbin asked Reitz if he stood by a post on X that officials can sometimes take actions contrary to court orders. Reitz explained this is &ldquo;a conservative view of <a href=\"https:\/\/constitution.congress.gov\/constitution\/article-3\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Article Three<\/a> and the role of courts and their ability to bind parties that are not litigants to the case before it.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Durbin then turned to Sauer for his opinion. Sauer said he did not want to speak to &ldquo;hypotheticals,&rdquo; but &ldquo;generally, if there&rsquo;s a direct court order that binds a federal or state official, they should follow it.&rdquo;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Durbin asked for exceptions, so Sauer suggested the infamous decisions of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.oyez.org\/cases\/1850-1900\/60us393\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><em>Dred Scott v. Sandford<\/em><\/a>  (which held free descendants of slaves cannot be citizens) and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.uscourts.gov\/about-federal-courts\/educational-resources\/annual-observances\/asian-pacific-american-heritage-month\/korematsu-v-us-balancing-liberties-and-safety\/facts-and-case-summary-korematsu-v-us\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><em>Korematsu v. U.S.<\/em><\/a>  (which upheld the Japanese internment as a &ldquo;military necessity&rdquo;).<\/p>\n<p>Durbin then challenged the notion that officials could defy the <em>Korematsu <\/em>decision. &ldquo;I want to get into it, because I think it goes to the heart of the question of the future constitutional challenge we face as a nation,&rdquo; he said.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Republican Sen. Josh Hawley slammed Durbin for apparently defending <em>Korematsu<\/em>, which the Supreme Court rebuked as &ldquo;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/story\/2018\/06\/26\/supreme-court-overturns-korematsu-673846\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">gravely wrong<\/a>&rdquo; and with &ldquo;no place in law under the Constitution&rdquo; in 2018.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I thought it sounded to me like my friend, Sen. Durbin, was defending the <em>Korematsu<\/em> decision, which I think is one of the worst and most abhorrent decisions in the history of the United States,&rdquo; Hawley said. &ldquo;When we have a decision that is absolutely morally abhorrent &mdash; <em>Korematsu<\/em>, <em>Dred Scott<\/em>, we can go down the line &mdash; should officials who disagree with a morally abhorrent decision just blindly follow it, or do they register their disagreements?&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Sauer said he &ldquo;strongly agree[d]&rdquo; with Hawley&rsquo;s reaction. He also said he used the historical examples to demonstrate that &ldquo;it&rsquo;s hard to make a very blanket, sweeping statement about something without being presented with the facts and the law that applied in that particular scenario.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Sauer is no stranger to high-stakes judicial issues. He <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scotusblog.com\/2024\/11\/trump-taps-lawyer-who-argued-his-immunity-case-for-solicitor-general\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">served<\/a> as Missouri solicitor general for six years starting in 2017, filed an election integrity <a href=\"https:\/\/www.supremecourt.gov\/DocketPDF\/22\/22O155\/163215\/20201209144840609_2020-12-09%20-%20Texas%20v.%20Pennsylvania%20-%20Amicus%20Brief%20of%20Missouri%20et%20al.%20-%20Final%20with%20Tables.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">brief<\/a> on behalf of Missouri and 16 other states at the Supreme Court in 2020, and <a href=\"https:\/\/caselaw.findlaw.com\/court\/us-dis-crt-e-d-mis-eas-div\/2143783.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">represented<\/a> plaintiffs who challenged the federal government&rsquo;s censorship complex in <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/missouri-v-biden\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><em>Missouri v. Biden<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Reitz concurred with Sauer&rsquo;s point that it is difficult to make blanket statements without knowing the specifics of a legal issue.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>&ldquo;There is no hard and fast rule about whether, in some, in every instance, a public official is bound by a court decision,&rdquo; Reitz added. &ldquo;There are some instances in which he or she may lawfully be bound, and other instances in which he or she may not lawfully be bound.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Hawley cited the <a href=\"https:\/\/constitutioncenter.org\/the-constitution\/historic-document-library\/detail\/the-fugitive-slave-act-1850\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Fugitive Slave Act<\/a> of 1850 &mdash; which <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/california-legislator-removed-from-committee-after-forcing-sanctuary-state-vote\/\" title=\"California lawmaker ousted from committee for pushing sanctuary state bill\">required law enforcement<\/a> even in free states to return suspected escaped slaves &mdash; as an example of when judges resigned rather than enforce a morally repugnant law. He said that &ldquo;the United States might be a better place if more of them had done so.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I can&rsquo;t believe that it&rsquo;s the position of anybody on this committee that in the face of decisions like <em>Korematsu<\/em> and <em>Dred Scott<\/em> and the<em> <\/em>Fugitive Slave Act that we should say to people, &lsquo;Oh, just grin and bear it. Don&rsquo;t say anything, enforce the law,&rsquo;&rdquo; Hawley said. &ldquo;For heaven&rsquo;s sake. I mean, good heavens.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p>      Logan Washburn is a <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\">staff writer covering election integrity<\/a>. He is a spring 2025 fellow of The College Fix. He graduated from Hillsdale College, served as Christopher Rufo&#8217;s editorial assistant, and has bylines in The Wall Street Journal, The Tennessean, and The Daily Caller. Logan is from Central Oregon but now lives in rural Michigan.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sen. Durbin seemed to defend the Korematsu ruling on internment<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":507,"featured_media":2407035,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Durbin-1024x567.png","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[51152,51153,6994],"class_list":["post-2407034","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-durbin-2","tag-japanese-internment","tag-scotus"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Durbin-1024x567.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2407034","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/507"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2407034"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2407034\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2407038,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2407034\/revisions\/2407038"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2407035"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2407034"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2407034"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2407034"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}