Sotomayor Hearings

Korematsu always gets mentioned in these hearings, because it's politically correct to condemn it. Here's what the transcipts say so far....

GRAHAM: I realize I'm jumping back and forth through these issues. But the last one I want to bring up has to do with the wartime Supreme Court decisions like Korematsu that we look back at with some bewilderment, of course. The Korematsu vs. the United States decision in which the Supreme Court upheld a government policy to round up and detain more than a hundred thousand Japanese Americans during World War II.

It seems inconceivable that the U.S. government would have decided to put huge numbers of citizens in detention centers based on their race and yet the Supreme Court allowed that to happen. I asked Chief Justice Roberts about this, I'll ask you as well. Do you believe that Korematsu was wrongly decided?

SOTOMAYOR: It was, sir.

GRAHAM: Does a judge have a duty to resist the kind of wartime fears that people understandably felt during World War II which likely played a role in the 1944 Korematsu decision?

SOTOMAYOR: A judge should never rule from fear. A judge should rule from law and the Constitution. It is inconceivable to me today that a decision permitting the detention and arrest of an individual solely on the basis of their race would be considered appropriate by our government.

FEINGOLD: Now, some of the great justices in the history of our country were involved in that decision. How does a judge resist those kind of fears?

SOTOMAYOR: One hopes, by having the -- the wisdom of a Harlan in Plessy, by having the wisdom to understand always, no matter what the situation, that our Constitution has held us in good stead for over 200 years and that our survival depends on upholding it.

FEINGOLD: Thank you, Judge

Someone should tell Senator Graham Korematsu involved the evacuation from the West Coast Military Zones. Detainment had nothing to do with it. Race had nothing to do with it, either - national origin did. Fear had nothing to do with it. The West Coast was a combat area and the military calls the shots in a military zone.

When a bunch of senators make such comments indicating they have no idea what they are talking about, while in the process of nominating a Supreme Court Justice - it is indeed a sad day in America.

I wonder if any of these people realize Korematsu is still good law to this day?