Kawakita v. United States

In 1921, Tomoya Kawakita (defendant) was born in the United States to parents who were citizens of Japan, making him both a United States citizen and a national of Japan. At the age of 18, Kawakita took the customary oath of allegiance to obtain a United States passport and used that passport to travel to Japan. In 1940, Kawakita registered with an American consul in Japan as an American citizen. Kawakita was enrolled in Meiji University when war was declared. Kawakita was unable to return to the United States. In 1943, Kawakita registered in the Koseki, a Japanese family census register. Kawakita had his name removed as an alien and changed his address from the United States to Japan. Kawakita began working as an interpreter with Oeyama Nickel Industry Co., Ltd. (Oeyama) as an interpreter. Oeyama was a private company that produced munitions under contract for the Japanese government. During his employment with Oeyama, Kawakita engaged in abusive conduct towards American prisoners. Kawakita hit, kicked, pushed, and forced prisoners to work more and produce more munitions. In 1945, Kawakita applied for registration as an American citizen and was issued a passport. Kawakita returned to the United States and was recognized by a former prisoner and was arrested. The United States (plaintiff) indicted Kawakita for treason because of the overt acts relating to his treatment of American prisoners. Kawakita argued that he had renounced his American citizenship and was expatriated and that he could only be guilty of treason to the country where he resided. After a jury trial, Kawakita was found guilty of treason. The trial judge imposed the death sentence. Kawakita appealed, and the judgment was affirmed. The Supreme Court granted cert.