During World War II, the government argued that it should be able to waive the Fourteenth Amendment, claiming that the Constitution <em>did not apply during wartime. </em>
As a context, the 14th amendment adopted on July 9, 1868, as one of the Reconstruction Amendments, addressed citizens rights and equal protection of the laws. Since it was a later response to the American Civil War, the above rights also covered early freed slaves.
Back in the WWII, the 14th amendment was temporarily suppressed, thus disactivating its protection, back up by the claim that the Constitution did not apply.
An example of how personal liberty restrained was imposed, was the detention and relocation of the Japanese residents of the Western states, including those who were native-born citizens of the US.
