Concurrence Murphy End date 1946 | Concurrence Stone | |
Citations 327 U.S. 304 (more)66 S. Ct. 606; 90 L. Ed. 688 Majority Black, joined by Reed, Douglas, Rutledge Dissent Burton, joined by Frankfurter Similar Ex parte Milligan, Ex parte Endo, Ex parte Quirin, Hirabayashi v United States, Ex parte Merryman | ||
Duncan v. Kahanamoku, 327 U.S. 304 (1946), was a decision by the United States Supreme Court. It is often associated with the Japanese exclusion cases (Hirabayashi v. United States, Korematsu v. United States and Ex parte Endo) because it involved wartime curtailment of fundamental civil liberties under the aegis of military authority.
While Duke Kahanamoku was a military police officer during World War II, he arrested Duncan for public intoxication. At the time, Hawaii, not yet a state, was being administered under the Hawaiian Organic Act which effectively instituted martial law on the island. Duncan was therefore tried by a military tribunal and appealed to the Supreme Court. The court ruled that trial by military tribunal was, in this case, unconstitutional.