http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/feb/3/justice-scalia-to-lecture-at-univ-of-hawaii/
HONOLULU U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia told law students at the University of Hawaii on Monday that the nations highest court was wrong to uphold the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II, but he wouldnt be surprised if the court issued a similar ruling during a future conflict.
Scalia was responding to a question about the courts 1944 decision in Korematsu v. United States, which upheld the convictions of Gordon Hirabayashi and Fred Korematsu for violating an order to report to an internment camp.
PHOTOS: Top 10 handguns in the U.S.
Well of course Korematsu was wrong. And I think we have repudiated in a later case. But you are kidding yourself if you think the same thing will not happen again, Scalia told students and faculty during a lunchtime Q-and-A session.
Scalia cited a Latin expression meaning, In times of war, the laws fall silent.
Thats what was going on - the panic about the war and the invasion of the Pacific and whatnot. Thats what happens. It was wrong, but I would not be surprised to see it happen again, in time of war. Its no justification, but it is the reality, he said.
Avi Soifer, the law schools dean, said he believed Scalia was suggesting people always have to be vigilant and that the law alone cant be trusted to provide protection.
Soifer said its good to hear Scalia say the Korematsu ruling was wrong, noting the justice has been among those who have reined in the power of military commissions regardless of the administration.
We do need a court that sometimes will say there are individual or group rights that are not being adequately protected by the democratic process, Soifer said.
Scalia was appointed to the nations highest court in 1986, making him the longest-serving justice currently on the court.
The 77-year-old spoke after teaching a class. He didnt take questions from media.
Read more: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news...a-to-lecture-at-univ-of-hawaii/#ixzz2sSw9znST
Follow us: @washtimes on Twitter
For the TLDR crowd: Scalia: Kidding yourself if you think internment camps wont return
HONOLULU U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia told law students at the University of Hawaii on Monday that the nations highest court was wrong to uphold the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II, but he wouldnt be surprised if the court issued a similar ruling during a future conflict.
Scalia was responding to a question about the courts 1944 decision in Korematsu v. United States, which upheld the convictions of Gordon Hirabayashi and Fred Korematsu for violating an order to report to an internment camp.
PHOTOS: Top 10 handguns in the U.S.
Well of course Korematsu was wrong. And I think we have repudiated in a later case. But you are kidding yourself if you think the same thing will not happen again, Scalia told students and faculty during a lunchtime Q-and-A session.
Scalia cited a Latin expression meaning, In times of war, the laws fall silent.
Thats what was going on - the panic about the war and the invasion of the Pacific and whatnot. Thats what happens. It was wrong, but I would not be surprised to see it happen again, in time of war. Its no justification, but it is the reality, he said.
Avi Soifer, the law schools dean, said he believed Scalia was suggesting people always have to be vigilant and that the law alone cant be trusted to provide protection.
Soifer said its good to hear Scalia say the Korematsu ruling was wrong, noting the justice has been among those who have reined in the power of military commissions regardless of the administration.
We do need a court that sometimes will say there are individual or group rights that are not being adequately protected by the democratic process, Soifer said.
Scalia was appointed to the nations highest court in 1986, making him the longest-serving justice currently on the court.
The 77-year-old spoke after teaching a class. He didnt take questions from media.
Read more: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news...a-to-lecture-at-univ-of-hawaii/#ixzz2sSw9znST
Follow us: @washtimes on Twitter
For the TLDR crowd: Scalia: Kidding yourself if you think internment camps wont return
