''Duncan v. Kahanamoku'', 327 U.S. 304 (1946), was a decision by the

United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

. It is often associated with the Japanese exclusion cases (''

Hirabayashi v. United States ''Hirabayashi v. United States'', 320 U.S. 81 (1943), was a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States, United States Supreme Court held that the application of curfews against members of a minority group were constitutional when the nati ...

'', ''

Korematsu v. United States ''Korematsu v. United States'', 323 U.S. 214 (1944), was a landmark decision by the Supreme Court of the United States to uphold the exclusion of Japanese Americans from the West Coast Military Area during World War II. The decision has been wid ...

'' and ''

Ex parte Endo ''Ex parte Mitsuye Endo'', 323 U.S. 283 (1944), was a United States Supreme Court ''ex parte'' decision handed down on December 18, 1944, in which the Justices unanimously ruled that the U.S. government could not continue to detain a citizen wh ...

'') because it involved wartime curtailment of fundamental civil liberties under the aegis of military authority, though in this case neither the plaintiff nor the nominal defendant were Japanese. While

Duke Kahanamoku Duke Paoa Kahinu Mokoe Hulikohola Kahanamoku (August 24, 1890 – January 22, 1968) was a Hawaiian competition swimmer who popularized the sport of surfing. A Native Hawaiian, he was born to a minor noble family less than three years before th ...

was a

military police Military police (MP) are law enforcement agencies connected with, or part of, the military of a state. In wartime operations, the military police may support the main fighting force with force protection, convoy security, screening, rear recon ...

officer during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, he arrested Lloyd C. Duncan, a civilian

shipfitter A shipfitter is a marine occupational classification used both by naval activities and among ship builders; however, the term applies mostly to certain workers at commercial and naval shipyards during the construction or repair phase of a ship. T ...

on February 24, 1944, after Duncan's brawl with two armed Marine sentries at the yard. At the time,

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

was not yet a state and was administered under the

Hawaiian Organic Act The Hawaiian Organic Act, , was an organic act enacted by the United States Congress to establish the Territory of Hawaii and to provide a Constitution and government for the territory. The Act was replaced by the Hawaii Admission Act on Aug ...

, which effectively instituted

martial law Martial law is the imposition of direct military control of normal civil functions or suspension of civil law by a government, especially in response to an emergency where civil forces are overwhelmed, or in an occupied territory. Use Marti ...

on the island and was tightened after the

attack on Pearl Harbor The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service upon the United States against the naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii, j ...

. Duncan was tried and convicted by a military tribunal for assault on military or naval personnel with intent to resist or hinder them in the discharge of their duty. However, civilian courts had restarted summoning jurors and witnesses and conducting criminal trials on the island. Duncan appealed to the Supreme Court, which ruled that his trial by military tribunal was unconstitutional.

References

External links

* * United States Supreme Court cases United States Supreme Court cases of the Stone Court Legal history of Hawaii 1946 in United States case law {{SCOTUS-case-stub

See also

References

Further reading

External links