In the landmark case Korematsu v. United States, the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of Executive Order 9066, which authorized the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II. The Court ruled 6-3 that the need to protect against espionage and sabotage by Japanese Americans on the West Coast outweighed the individual rights of those affected by the order.
The decision was highly controversial and has been widely criticized since. It is now widely viewed as a stain on the Court's record and a violation of the civil rights of Japanese Americans who were interned during the war. In 1988, President Ronald Reagan signed a bill that apologized for the internment and provided reparations to surviving Japanese-American internees.