Kotohira Jinsha v. McGrath, Attorney General,. (90 F. Supp. 892) was a District court case allowing Shinto Shrines to reopen following World War II.

Background

Kotohira Jinsha Shrine was established in 1920. December 7, 1941, the Empire of Japan

attacked 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 ...

; thereafter practice of Shinto was banned by martial law; throughout the war clergy are deported to Japan or transferred to the U.S. mainland. October 24, 1944, martial law was lifted in Hawaii. September 2, 1945, Japan surrenders and World War II is over. December 15, 1945,

Shinto Directive The Shinto Directive was an order issued in 1945 to the Japanese government by Occupation authorities to abolish state support for the Shinto religion. This unofficial "State Shinto" was thought by Allies to have been a major contributor to ...

abolishes

State Shinto was Imperial Japan's ideological use of the Japanese folk religion and traditions of Shinto. The state exercised control of shrine finances and training regimes for priests to strongly encourage Shinto practices that emphasized the Emperor as ...

, Japan’s

state religion A state religion (also called religious state or official religion) is a religion or creed officially endorsed by a sovereign state. A state with an official religion (also known as confessional state), while not secular state, secular, is not n ...

. April 6, 1946, without a clergy, the remaining ministry closes Kotohira Jinsha

Case

December 31, 1947, with declining tensions towards Japanese tradition, Shintos reopen Kotohira Jinsha despite the absence of a clergy. June 1, 1948, federal officers raided the shrine under the Trading with the Enemy Act the seize the Kotohira Jinsha property and making arrests. March 4, 1949, the

Federal Government A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government (federalism). In a federation, the self-governin ...

announces the sale of the seized Kotohira Jinsha property. April 4, 1949, Kotohira Jinsha reacted by hiring law firm, Robertson, Castle & Anthony. March 31, 1949, Kotohira Jinsha files lawsuit against the Attorney General’s office (held by

J. Howard McGrath James Howard McGrath (November 28, 1903September 2, 1966) was an American politician and attorney from Rhode Island. McGrath, a Democrat, served as U.S. Attorney for Rhode Island before becoming governor, U.S. Solicitor General, U.S. Sen ...

) for misusing Section 9 of the Trading with the Enemy Act against a civilian organization and not under the influence of the Japanese government. March 27, 1950, The trial started and ended on May 17, 1950. May 18, 1950, Judge J. Frank McLaughlin ruled in favor of the plaintiffs, Kotohira Jinsha.

Judge

J. Frank McLaughlin

Plaintiffs

Robertson, Castle & Anthony * Joseph G. Anthony *

Frank D. Padgett Frank David Padgett (March 9, 1923 – July 11, 2021) was an American judge and World War II B-24 bomber pilot. Padgett grew up during the Great Depression and earned a scholarship to Harvard College in Massachusetts. Before he could graduate h ...

Defendants

Attorney General’s office * Ray J. O'Brien * Leon R. Gross * Howard K. Hoddick

Conclusion

Judge McLaughlin found the Attorney General’s office in violation of the First Amendment rights of plaintiffs in the

United States Constitution The Constitution of the United States is the Supremacy Clause, supreme law of the United States, United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, in 1789. Originally comprising seven ar ...

with reference to

Robert H. Jackson Robert Houghwout Jackson (February 13, 1892 – October 9, 1954) was an American lawyer, jurist, and politician who served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the Unit ...

American Communications Association v. Douds ''American Communications Association v. Douds'', 339 U.S. 382 (1950), is a 5-to-1 ruling by the United States Supreme Court which held that the Taft–Hartley Act's imposition of an anti-communist oath on labor union leaders does not violate the ...

. Judge J. Frank McLaughlin found the Attorney General’s office had no basis on which to exercise the Trading with the Enemy Act, moreover since 1945 Japan had abolished state religion under

Douglas MacArthur Douglas MacArthur (26 January 18805 April 1964) was an American military leader who served as General of the Army for the United States, as well as a field marshal to the Philippine Army. He had served with distinction in World War I, was C ...

and by judicial order return seized property to Kotohira Jinsha.

Results

Kotohira Jinsha Shrine reopened almost immediately after the case that year. After relocating a second time in 1962 to make way for the H1 Freeway (the first time in 1931) to its current location. The successful case demonstrated the possibility for other Japanese-based organizations perceived as being wronged by the United States to go to court. In 2010 the Ground Zero mosque controversy over Park51 near the World Trade Center site, in comparison between the Attack on Pearl Harbor and September 11 attacks, renewed interest Kotohira in ''Jinsha v. McGrath'' arose as a counterpart for Park51.

References

*''The Shinto Shrine Near Pearl Harbor'' (2010) by Bob Jones, MidWeek *''Kotohira Jinsha v. McGrath, 90 F. Supp. 892 - Dist. Court, D. Hawaii 1950'' (1950) *''History of the Shrine'' Hawaii Kotohira Jinsha - Hawaii Dazaifu Tenmangu {{Authority control 1950 in United States case law United States District Court for the District of Hawaii cases United States free exercise of religion case law 1950 in religion Shinto in the United States Legal history of Hawaii 1950 in Hawaii