Court Opinion

ID: 9421571
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-02 22:58:57.398283+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:22:31.230680
License: Public Domain

Mr. Justice Harlan,
whom
Mr. Justice Clark joins, dissenting.
The central question in this case is simply whether Nishikawa’s service in the Japanese Army can be said to be “voluntary” when the record contains virtually nothing more in the way of proof than that he went to Japan from this country in 1939 and was inducted into the army pursuant to a conscription law of Japan without any protest on his part.
Beyond establishing that he was drafted without protest, Nishikawa’s testimony should be disregarded, for the *143District Court expressly stated that it disbelieved his explanations as to why he had not sought the aid of American authorities in Japan or otherwise attempted to protest or prevent his induction, and the Court of Appeals has affirmed. Particularly when credibility is in issue we should not set ourselves against the factual determinations of the trial court, which had the great advantage of hearing and observing Nishikawa on the witness stand.
The Courts of Appeals have divided on the question whether proof of conscription, in the absence of anything more on either side, precludes a finding that service in a foreign army was voluntary. The Second and Third Circuits have held that it does. Augello v. Dulles, 220 F. 2d 344; Lehmann v. Acheson, 206 F. 2d 592; Perri v. Dulles, 206 F. 2d 586. The District of Columbia Circuit has ruled that “[djuress cannot be inferred from the mere fact of conscription.” Acheson v. Maenza, 92 U. S. App. D. C. 85, 90, 202 F. 2d 453, 458; Alata v. Dulles, 95 U. S. App. D. C. 182, 221 F. 2d 52; but see Bruni v. Dulles, 98 U. S. App. D. C. 358, 235 F. 2d 855.1
Moved by the consideration that a contrary rule would lead to the “drastic” consequence of denationalization, the Court holds that (1) the fact that Nishikawa was conscripted into the Japanese Army precluded the District Court from finding that his service was voluntary, in the absence of the Government’s showing something more than that he failed to take any steps to prevent or protest his induction; and (2) the Government has the burden of proving voluntariness in'all denationalization cases once the issue of duress has been “injected” into the *144case. I too am not insensitive to the high value of American citizenship, but find myself compelled to dissent because in my opinion the majority’s position can be squared neither with congressional intent nor with proper and well-established rules governing the burden of proof on the issue of duress.
I.
To permit conscription without more to establish duress unjustifiably limits, if it does not largely nullify, the mandate of § 401 (c). By exempting from the reach of the statute all those serving in foreign armies as to whom no more has been shown than their conscription, the Court is attributing to Congress the intention to permit many Americans who served in such armies to do so with impunity. There is no solid basis for such a restrictive interpretation. By the time the Nationality Act of 1940 was passed, conscription and not voluntary enlistment had become the usual method of. raising armies throughout the world, and it can hardly be doubted that Congress was aware of this fact. In view of this background it is farfetched to assume that Congress intended the result reached by the Court, a result plainly inconsistent with the even-handed administration of § 401 (c). Moreover, the very terms of the section, which refer to both “entering” and “serving in” foreign armed forces, are at odds with such an intention.
II.
Although the Court recognizes the general rule that consciously performed acts are presumed voluntary, see 3 Wigmore, Evidence (3d ed.), §860; Fed. Rules Civ. Proc., 8 (c), it in fact alters this rule in all denationalization cases by placing the burden of proving voluntariness on the Government, thus relieving citizen-claimants in *145such cases from the duty of proving that their presumably voluntary acts were actually involuntary.2
One of the prime reasons for imposing the burden of proof on the party claiming involuntariness is that the evidence normally lies in his possession. This reason is strikingly applicable to cases of the kind before us, for evidence that an individual involuntarily served in a foreign army is peculiarly within his grasp, and rarely accessible to the Government. Nishikawa's case amply illustrates the proposition. In the eight months that passed between his notice to report for a physical examination and his actual induction Nishikawa could have taken a variety of steps designed to prevent his conscription, any of which would have been persuasive evidence of the involuntary character of his service. For example, he could have sought to return to the United States, to renounce his Japanese nationality, to advise Japanese officials that he was an American citizen, to enlist the assistance of American Consular officials in *146Japan, or to employ the aid of friends or relatives in the United States.3 Nishikawa admits that he did none of these things. But if he claimed that he had, is it not apparent that he and not the Government is the logical party to bring forward the pertinent evidence? In such circumstances it seems to me the better course to require Nishikawa to prove his allegation of duress rather than to impose on the Government the well-nigh impossible task of producing evidence to refute such a claim.
For both of the reasons set forth above I think that the finding of the District Court that Nishikawa served in the Japanese Army without duress should not be disturbed.
In considering § 401 (c), we ought not to lose sight of the fact that it deals solely with dual nationals, remitting them to the citizenship of the country which they served in time of war. Unlike the majority, I do not believe that this consequence is incommensurate with petitioner’s conduct. It seems to me that there is a large measure of justice in relegating Nishikawa solely to his Japanese citizenship, for it is with the armed forces of Japan that he served for more than four years during the heart of the late World War. Nishikawa’s service included participation in military action against the United States in the Philippines. There is no suggestion that at any time during this period he ever performed any act indicating disloyalty to Japan or loyalty to the United States.
The Court remands the case presumably to give the Government the opportunity to show that Nishikawa’s service with the Japanese Army was voluntary. Surely this is but an empty gesture. The Government can *147hardly be expected to adduce proof as to occurrences taking place in Japan more than 17 years ago which are now shrouded in obscurity beyond serious hope of detection.
Nishikawa’s constitutional contention that Congress lacked power to enact § 401 (c) is, in my view, foreclosed by Perez v. Brownell, ante, p. 44, decided this day.
I would affirm the judgment of the Court of Appeals.

 See also Hamamoto v. Acheson, 98 F. Supp. 904. Compare Acheson v. Okimura, 342 U. S. 899; Acheson v. Murata, 342 U. S. 900, and the dissenting opinion in Mandoli v. Acheson, 344 U. S. 133, 139. As we read Gonzales v. London, 350 U. S. 920, cited in the majority opinion, that case related simply to the standard, and not to the burden, of proof in denationalization cases.

 The Court not only reaches a conclusion inconsistent with the usual rules governing burden of proof, but does so in the face of §402 of the Nationality Act, which provides -in part:
“A national of the United States who was born in the United States . . . shall be presumed to have expatriated himself under subsection (c) or (d) of section 401, when he shall remain for six months or longer within any foreign state of which he or either of his parents shall have been a national according to the laws of such foreign state . . . and such presumption shall exist until overcome whether or not the individual has returned to the United States.” 54 Stat. 1137, 1169.
Nishikawa was in Japan for 10 months before he even received notice to report for physical examination in the draft. He was inducted over 18 months after his arrival in Japan. This Court held in Kawakita v. United States, 343 U. S. 717, 730: “Section 402 does not enlarge § 401 (c) or (d); it creates a rebuttable presumption of expatriation; and when it is shown that the citizen did no act which brought him under §401 (c) or (d), the presumption is overcome.”

 It is of course quite irrelevant that any steps taken by Nishikawa to forestall his induction may have been in vain. Whether successful or not, they would certainly have reflected his unwillingness to serve in the Army of Japan.