Asakura v. City of Seattle

Asakura v. City of Seattle
Supreme Court of the United States
Decided May 26, 1924
Full case name	Asakura v. City of Seattle
Citations	265 U.S. 332 (more)
Holding
Seattle's ordinance limiting business licenses to American citizens violated the Treaty of Amity and Commerce between Japan and the United States, which guaranteed Japanese citizens the right to conduct business in the United States.
Court membership
Chief Justice William H. Taft Associate Justices Joseph McKenna · Oliver W. Holmes Jr. Willis Van Devanter · James C. McReynolds Louis Brandeis · George Sutherland Pierce Butler · Edward T. Sanford
Case opinion
Majority	Butler, joined by unanimous
Laws applied
Treaty of Amity and Commerce between Japan and the United States

Asakura v. City of Seattle, 265 U.S. 332 (1924), was a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court held Seattle's ordinance limiting business licenses to American citizens violated the Treaty of Amity and Commerce between Japan and the United States, which guaranteed Japanese citizens the right to conduct business in the United States.

Significance

Asakura demonstrates the interaction of the Treaty Clause with the Supremacy Clause: self-executing international agreements ratified by the United States are equivalent to federal laws, which trump conflicting state laws.

External links

• Text of Asakura v. City of Seattle, 265 U.S. 332 (1924) is available from: Cornell  Findlaw  Justia