Tomoya Kawakita died biography

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Tomoya Kawakita died biography

The last person in the U.S. convicted of treason was Tomoya Kawakita, a Japanese-American sentenced to death in 1952 for tormenting American prisoners of war during World War II. President Dwight D. Eisenhower later commuted his sentence to life imprisonment.

Kawakita v. United States, 343 U.S. 717 (1952), was a case in which the United States Supreme Court reviewed a treason accusation against the defendant Tomoya Kawakita, a dual U.S./Japanese citizen.

Full case name Kawakita v. United States
Citations 343 U.S. 717 (more)
Prior history In a Federal District Court, petitioner was convicted of treason and sentenced to death,96 F. Supp. 824. The Court of Appeals affirmed, 190 F.2d 506. Certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, 343 U.S. 717.
Subsequent history 190 F.2d 506, affirmed.
Holding
A US citizen owes allegiance to the United States and can be punished for treasonable acts voluntarily committed regardless of dual nationality or citizenship.
Court membership
Chief Justice
Fred M. Vinson
Associate Justices
Hugo Black · Stanley F. Reed
Felix Frankfurter · William O. Douglas
Robert H. Jackson · Harold H. Burton
Tom C. Clark · Sherman Minton
Case opinions
Majority Douglas, joined by unanimous court
Frankfurter and Clark took no part in the consideration or decision of the case.

The court found that Kawakita owed allegiance to the United States during his time in Japan. He was found guilty of eight overt acts, his U.S. citizenship was revoked, and he was sentenced to death. President Dwight D. Eisenhower commuted the sentence to life imprisonment in 1953. Ten years later President John F. Kennedy, during the closing of the Alcatraz prison where he was serving his time, ordered him released on the condition that he be deported and barred from re-entering the United States.