who was fred korematsu's lawyer

by Elinor Morar 5 min read

Wayne M. Collins

What did Fred Korematsu argue in his case?

Besig was an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and wanted to support Korematsu in fighting his arrest. He warned Korematsu that his chances of winning were slim but that Besig wanted to take the case all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. Korematsu agreed.

Who was Korematsu's lawyer?

Korematsu brought two attorneys from the American Civil Liberties Union to represent him. One was Wayne Collins, who had helped to found the ACLU's Northern California branch in 1934. Though the ACLU board initially voted against representing Korematsu, Collins persuaded his colleagues otherwise and ultimately argued the case before SCOTUS.

What was Korematsu v Seattle University?

Fred T. Korematsu was a national civil rights hero. In 1942, at the age of 23, he refused to go to the government’s incarceration camps for Japanese Americans. ... With this new evidence, a pro-bono legal team that included the Asian Law Caucus re-opened Korematsu’s 40-year-old case on the basis of government misconduct. On November 10 ...

What is the Fred Korematsu Institute?

Fred T. Korematsu Elementary School Davis, CA Dedicated November 2005 Korematsu Lecture series NYU Law School, NY, NY Established March 2000 American Muslim Voice Foundation launched its Fred Korematsu Civil Rights Award Palo Alto, CA October 2006

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What did Fred Toyosaburo korematsu do to avoid being sent to an internment camp with his parents?

Korematsu, a welder who lived in California, was ordered on May 3, 1942, to report to an assembly center for relocation to an internment camp. Though his family obeyed the directive, Korematsu did not. He instead adopted a fake identity and even underwent plastic surgery in an attempt to alter his appearance.May 3, 2021

Who in the podcast defended the Korematsu decision?

Ernest Besig, ACLU lawyer who helped Fred Korematsu bring his case. Lorraine Bannai, Professor at Seattle University School of Law and friend of Fred's family. Richard Posner, recently retired Circuit Judge for the U.S. Court of Appeals, 7th Circuit.

What did Fred Korematsu do to help the civil rights movement?

Born in the U.S., Korematsu protested the forced internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II, claiming it was unconstitutional. The U.S. Supreme Court upheld charges against him in 1944 and it would take nearly 40 years for his charges to be formally overturned.

Why does Judge Murphy disagree with the decision of the Court?

In his dissent, Justice Murphy condemned the majority's decision and rejected its reasoning. Justice Murphy wrote that the decision was nothing more than the "legalization of racism" and concluded, "Racial discrimination in any form in any degree has no justifiable part whatever in our democratic way of life.

Was Korematsu overturned?

On November 10, 1983, a federal judge overturned Korematsu's conviction in the same San Francisco courthouse where he had been convicted as a young man. The district court ruling cleared Korematsu's name, but the Supreme Court decision still stands.

What was Korematsu's argument?

Korematsu argued that Executive Order 9066 was unconstitutional and that it violated the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution. The Fifth Amendment was selected over the Fourteenth Amendment due to the lack of federal protections in the Fourteenth Amendment. He was arrested and convicted.

Was Korematsu imprisoned?

Korematsu was arrested on a street corner in San Leandro, California on May 30, 1942 for resisting Executive Order 9066, in which all people of Japanese descent were incarcerated in U.S. concentration camps. He was convicted and sent to the Topaz Internment Camp in Utah.

Did Korematsu go to jail?

He underwent minor plastic surgery to alter his eyes in an attempt to look less Japanese. He also changed his name to Clyde Sarah and claimed to be of Spanish and Hawaiian descent. On May 30, 1942, he was arrested on a street corner in San Leandro, California, and taken to San Francisco county jail.

Why did Fred Korematsu have plastic surgery?

He underwent minor plastic surgery to alter his eyes in an attempt to look less Japanese. He also changed his name to Clyde Sarah and claimed to be of Spanish and Hawaiian descent.

Who is Fred Korematsu's daughter?

Note: This is a comprehensive, authoritative biography prepared by the Korematsu Institute and Karen Korematsu, daughter of Fred Korematsu. Fred Toyosaburo Korematsu was born in Oakland, California, on January 30, 1919. He was the third of four sons to Japanese immigrant parents who ran a floral nursery business in Oakland, California.

Who was Fred Korematsu?

Fred Korematsu was a Japanese American citizen who stood up for his civil rights during World War II when the government detained him because of his Japanese ancestry.

When was Korematsu's conviction overturned?

On November 10, 1983, when Korematsu was 63, his conviction was overturned by a federal judge. Korematsu lobbied for a 1988 bill that granted an apology to and compensation for those who'd been subjected to internment. President Bill Clinton awarded Korematsu the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1998.

Where was Toyosaburo Korematsu born?

Toyosaburo Korematsu was born in Oakland, California, on January 30, 1919. His parents, Kakusaburo Korematsu and Kotsui Aoki, had immigrated from Japan and owned a plant nursery. He was the third of their four sons. Korematsu was nicknamed "Fred" in school. Korematsu v.

Who was the Black Panther leader who was targeted by the FBI?

Fred Hampton was a leader in the Black Panther Party who was harassed and targeted by local law enforcement and the FBI, resulting in his murder during a police raid on his apartment on December 4, 1969.

What was the purpose of the Order 9066?

Stating the need for "protection against espionage and against sabotage," it gave directions "to prescribe military areas in such places and of such extent as he or the appropriate Military Commander may determine, from which any or all persons may be excluded." This resulted in the detention of around 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry, even those who were U.S. citizens, as the military believed some were likely to aid Japan in the war.

What happened to Brandon Lee?

Brandon Lee was an action film star and the son of actor Bruce Lee. His untimely death was caused by a prop gun accident on the set of the film 'The Crow.'

Who is Fred Korematsu?

Fred Korematsu, 23, was a Japanese-American citizen who did not comply with the order to leave his home and job, despite the fact that his parents had abandoned their home and their flower-nursery business in preparation for reporting to a camp. Korematsu planned to stay behind.

When was the Korematsu case reopened?

In 1983, a pro bono legal team with new evidence re-opened the 40-year-old case in a federal district court on the basis of government misconduct. They showed that the government’s legal team had intentionally suppressed or destroyed evidence from government intelligence agencies reporting that Japanese Americans posed no military threat to the U.S. The official reports, including those from the FBI under J. Edgar Hoover, were not presented in court. On November 10, 1983, a federal judge overturned Korematsu’s conviction in the same San Francisco courthouse where he had been convicted as a young man.

What was the order that the US put off Japanese ancestry?

About 10 weeks after the U.S. entered World War II, President Franklin D. Roosevelt on February 19, 1942 signed Executive Order 9066 . The order authorized the Secretary of War and the armed forces to remove people of Japanese ancestry from what they designated as military areas and surrounding communities in the United States. These areas were legally off limits to Japanese aliens and Japanese-American citizens.

What was the Korematsu decision?

Discussing the Korematsu decision in their 1982 report entitled Personal Justice Denied, this Congressional Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians (CCWRIC) concluded that "each part of the decision, questions of both factual review and legal principles, has been discredited or abandoned," and that, "Today the decision in Korematsu lies overruled in the court of history."

How did Korematsu challenge his conviction?

Korematsu challenged his conviction in 1983 by filing before the United States District Court for the Northern District of California a writ of coram nobis , which asserted that the original conviction was so flawed as to represent a grave injustice that should be reversed. As evidence, he submitted the conclusions of the CCWRIC report as well as newly-discovered internal Justice Department communications demonstrating that evidence contradicting the military necessity for the Executive Order 9066 had been knowingly withheld from the Supreme Court. Specifically, he said Solicitor General Charles H. Fahy had kept from the Court a wartime finding by the Office of Naval Intelligence, the Ringle Report, that concluded very few Japanese represented a risk and that almost all of those who did were already in custody when the Executive Order was enacted. While not admitting error, the government submitted a counter-motion asking the court to vacate the conviction without a finding of fact on its merits. Judge Marilyn Hall Patel denied the government's petition, and concluded that the Supreme Court had indeed been given a selective record, representing a compelling circumstance sufficient to overturn the original conviction. She granted the writ, thereby voiding Korematsu's conviction, while pointing out that since this decision was based on prosecutorial misconduct and not an error of law, any legal precedent established by the case remained in force.

Why was Korematsu arrested?

Korematsu argued that Executive Order 9066 was unconstitutional and that it violated the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution. The Fifth Amendment was selected over the Fourteenth Amendment due to the lack of federal protections in the Fourteenth Amendment. He was arrested and convicted.

What was the Korematsu v. United States case?

214 (1944), was a landmark United States Supreme Court case upholding the exclusion of Japanese Americans from the West Coast Military Area during World War II. The decision has widely been criticized, with some scholars describing it as "an odious and discredited artifact of popular bigotry" ...

Who wrote the Hirabayashi v. United States case?

The decision of the case, written by Justice Hugo Black, found the case largely indistinguishable from the previous year's Hirabayashi v. United States decision, and rested largely on the same principle: deference to Congress and the military authorities, particularly in light of the uncertainty following Pearl Harbor. Justice Black further denied that the case had anything to do with racial prejudice:

What did Frank Murphy say about the Japanese exclusion order?

Justice Frank Murphy issued a vehement dissent, saying that the exclusion of Japanese "falls into the ugly abyss of racism", and resembles "the abhorrent and despicable treatment of minority groups by the dictatorial tyrannies which this nation is now pledged to destroy." Murphy argued that collective punishment for Japanese Americans was an unconstitutional response to any disloyalty that might have been found in a minority of their cohort. He also compared the treatment of Japanese Americans with the treatment of Americans of German and Italian ancestry, as evidence that race, and not emergency alone, led to the exclusion order which Korematsu was convicted of violating:

What was the purpose of the Order 9066?

Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066 on February 19, 1942, authorizing the War Department to create military areas from which any or all Americans might be excluded, and to provide for the necessary transport, lodging, and feeding of persons displaced from such areas. On March 2, 1942, the U.S. Army Lieutenant General John L. DeWitt, commander of the Western Defense Command, issued Public Proclamation No. 1, demarcating western military areas and the exclusion zones therein, and directing any " Japanese, German, or Italian aliens" and any person of Japanese descent to inform the U.S. Postal Service of any changes of residence. Further military areas and zones were demarcated in Public Proclamation No. 2.

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Overview

Biography

Fred Toyosaburo Korematsu was born in Oakland, California, on January 30, 1919, the third of four sons to Japanese parents Kakusaburo Korematsu and Kotsui Aoki, who immigrated to the United States in 1905. Korematsu resided continuously in Oakland from his birth until the time of his arrest. He attended public schools, participated in the Castlemont High School(Oakland, California…

Legacy

The Fred T. Korematsu Institute carries Korematsu's name to continue his work with teachers and community leaders across the country to promote Korematsu's fight for justice and civil liberties.
The Fred T. Korematsu Center for Law and Equality at the Seattle University School of Law"advance[s] justice and equality through research, advocacy, an…

See also

• Day of Remembrance (Japanese Americans)
• Gordon Hirabayashi
• Japanese American redress and court cases
• List of civil rights leaders

Further reading

• "S.Res.126 – A resolution honoring Fred T. Korematsu for his loyalty and patriotism to the United States and expressing condolences to his family, friends, and supporters on his death". Congress.gov. April 27, 2005. Retrieved January 31, 2017.
• "Fred Korematsu: Why ignore a true hero?". Al Jazeera. Retrieved January 30, 2017.

External links

• "One person can make a difference. Even if it takes 40 years." Fred Korematsu Day, 1/30/2014
• Topaz Japanese-American Relocation Center Digital Collection
• Japanese Relocation (1943 FILM- viewable for free at not-for profit- The Internet Archive)