Harue Sakamoto v. Robert F. Kennedy, Attorney General of the United States, as Successor to the Alien Property Custodian

This suit is the sequel to an unsuccessful application by Harue Sakamoto to the Attorney General for the proceeds of certain property seized by the Alien Property Custodian during World War II under the Trading with the Enemy Act ( 40 Stat. 411 , 50 U.S.C.A.Appendix, § 1 et seq.), hereinafter referred to as the “Act.”

Harue Sakamoto, the former owner of the property and the appellant here, by reason of her birth in the Territory (now State) of Hawaii, was a citizen of both the United States and Japan. In 1947 she lost her United States citizenship by voting in a Japanese political election ( 66 Stat. 267 , 8 U.S.C.A. § 1481 (a) (5)) but regained it by naturalization upon complying with Public Law 515 shortly after that law was enacted in 1954, 8 U.S.C.A. § 1438 note. She then filed her application in accordance with the provisions contained in section 32(a) (2) (D) of the Act which authorize the return of property vested by the Alien Property Custodian (or the net proceeds in the event it was sold) upon an administrative determination by the Attorney General that the applicant is “an individual who at all times since December 7, 1941, was a citizen of the United States. * * * ”…