[CongressionalBill BillsText 119th- Congress]ACR-159 [FromFred Korematsu Day of Civil Liberties and the U.S.Constitution.

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7702/22/18 - Chaptered 02/21/18 - Enrolled 01/22/18 - Introduced inACR-159 HouseFred (IH)]Korematsu <DOC>Day 119thof CONGRESSCivil 1stLiberties Sessionand H.the Constitution.(2017-2018) Text >> Votes >> History >> Bill Analysis >> Today's Law As Amended >> Compare Versions >> Status >> Comments To Author >> Add To My Favorites >> SHARE THIS:

RES.ACR159:v97#DOCUMENTBill Start Assembly Concurrent Resolution No.

77159 SupportingCHAPTER the14 designationRelative ofto JanuaryFred 30, 2025, as ``Fred Korematsu Day of Civil Liberties and the Constitution''.Constitution.

_______________________________________________________________________[ INFiled THEwith HOUSESecretary OFof REPRESENTATIVESState January February 22, 2018. 28, 2025 Mr.

Takano] (forLEGISLATIVE himself,COUNSEL'S Ms.DIGESTACR 159, Ting.

Tokuda,Fred Korematsu Day of Civil Liberties and Ms.the Constitution.This measure would designate that January 30, 2018, be observed as Fred Korematsu Day of Civil Liberties and the Constitution.Digest Key Fiscal Committee:

Matsui)NO  Bill submittedTextWHEREAS, theFred followingKorematsu resolution;was born in Oakland, California, on January 30, 1919, to Japanese immigrant parents.

whichUpon wasgraduation referredfrom toCastlemont theHigh CommitteeSchool onin the1937, JudiciaryMr. _______________________________________________________________________ RESOLUTION Supporting the designation of January 30, 2025, as ``Fred Korematsu Day of Civil Liberties and the Constitution''.

WhereasKorematsu Fredwas Toyosaburounable Korematsuto wasserve bornin onthe JanuaryUnited 30,States 1919,military inbecause Oakland,his California,selective service classification had been changed to Japanese“Enemy immigrantAlien,” parents;even though he was a United States citizen.

WhereasMr. Fred Korematsu attempted to enlist in the United States National Guard and the United States Coast Guard after the United States entered World War II and was rejected because of his Japanese ancestry;

Whereas,Korematsu afterattended the signingMaster School of ExecutiveWelding Orderand 9066worked onat February 19, 1942, by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, which authorized the forceddocks imprisonmentin ofOakland 120,000as peoplea ofshipyard Japanesewelder, descentquickly intorising prisonthrough camps, the majorityranks ofto whomforeman wereuntil Americanhis citizens,union Fredbarred Korematsuall resistedpeople that infringement of AmericanJapanese civilancestry liberties and attempted to continue his lifeemployment as an American citizen until he was arrested,terminated; convicted, and incarcerated at a concentration camp in Topaz, Utah;

Whereas,and inWHEREAS, 1944,In 1942, Fred Korematsu appealedrefused his case to thecomply Unitedwith StatesCivilian SupremeExclusion Court,Order whichNo. ruled against him, declaring in Korematsu v.

United34 Stateswhich that Japanese incarceration was aauthorized ``militaryby necessity''President ratherFranklin thanD. an egregious act of racial discrimination;

Whereas,Roosevelt’s inExecutive 1980,Order PresidentNo. Jimmy Carter created the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians (CWRIC), which concluded in 1983 that the forced removal and imprisonment of people of Japanese ancestry was motivated by ``race prejudice, war hysteria, and a failure of political leadership'';

Whereas,9066. during this time, researchers at the University of California, San Diego uncovered documents from the United States Department of Justice in which intelligence agencies, including the FBI, the FCC, and the Office of Naval Intelligence, denied that Japanese-Americans ever committed wrongdoing, but which were never presented to the United States Supreme Court during Korematsu v.

It imposed strict curfew regulations and required over 100,000 United States;States citizens and permanent residents of Japanese ancestry to leave their homes on the West Coast and submit to imprisonment based solely on their ancestry;

Whereas, following the conclusion of the Commission on Wartime Relocation and InternmentWHEREAS, ofFred CiviliansKorematsu andwas thearrested findings on governmentalMay misconduct,30, Fred1942, Korematsu reopened his case, and oncharged Novemberwith 10,violating 1983, the Unitedmilitary’s Statesexclusion Districtorder. Court of Northern California in San Francisco overturned his conviction;

WhereasWhile Fredhe Korematsu'sspent courageouslytwo foughtand injusticeone-half bymonths challengingin the constitutionalityPresidio ofstockade Executiveprison Orderin 9066,San andFrancisco, hisCalifornia lawsuitthe remainsExecutive anDirector importantof lesson about the fragilityAmerican ofCivil individualLiberties civilUnion libertiesof duringNorthern aCalifornia, timeErnest whenBesig, theoffered Nation is experiencing threats to itsdefend nationalhim. security;

Whereas Fred Korematsu continuedwas totried fight injustice and defendconvicted theby libertiesa offederal Muslimcourt people when, in 2003, he warned in an amicus brief that the United States extreme national security measures following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, were reminiscent of the mistakes of the past that undermined American civil liberties, including the Alien and Seditiontaken Actsby ofmilitary 1798,authorities theto suspension of habeas corpus during the CivilTanforan War,Assembly theCenter prosecutionin ofSan dissentersBruno, duringCalifornia. World War I, the Red Scare of 1919-1920, the interment of people of Japanese descent during World War II, and the era of loyalty oaths and McCarthyism during the Cold War;

WhereasAfter thespending democraticseveral charactermonths ofat theTanforan, Americana peopleformer willhorse beracing nourishedtrack, andFred enhancedKorematsu byand opportunitieshis forfamily civicwere educationsent onto the significantTopaz challengesconcentration thatcamp havein beenUtah. posed to our Constitution;

WhereasBelieving athe daydiscriminatory ofconviction annualviolated nationalfreedoms reflectionguaranteed onby how the Constitution, Fred Korematsu questappealed forhis justicecase. is important to educating the American people about preserving civil liberties and the principle of equality before the law;

andThough Whereasthe appeal went up to the United States ofSupreme California,Court Florida,in Hawaii,1944, Virginia,justice Arizona,was Newdenied Jersey,to andFred MichiganKorematsu havewhen alreadythe designatedSupreme JanuaryCourt 30upheld asthe Fredconviction Korematsuby Daya six to commemoratethree hisvote, lifelongleaving fighthim fordevastated civiland libertieswondering andwhat theeffect Constitution:this would have on other Americans;

Now,and therefore,WHEREAS, beFollowing itWorld Resolved,War ThatII and the Houserelease of Representatives--Japanese (1)Americans supportsfrom the designationconcentration ofcamps, aFred ``Fred Korematsu Dayattempted ofto Civilresume Libertieslife as an American citizen, marrying his wife Kathryn and theraising Constitution'';two children, Karen and Ken.

(2)He recognizesmaintained Fredhis Korematsu'sinnocence braverythrough andthe resilienceyears, inbut the faceconviction ofhad adversity;a lasting impact on Fred Korematsu’s basic rights, affecting his ability to obtain employment;

and (3)WHEREAS, encouragesIn all1982, peoplewith tonewly reflectdiscovered onevidence thefound importanceby ofPeter politicalIrons, leadershipa legal historian and vigilanceattorney, and onAiko Herzig-Yoshinaga, a researcher, Fred Korematsu made the valuesdecision ofto justicereopen andhis civil1944 rightsconviction duringby timespetitioning for a writ of uncertaintyerror andcoram emergency.nobis to have the wrongful conviction vacated.

<all>The task of retrying a legal case based on events 40 years past was complicated and novel, but a pro bono legal team composed mostly of Sansei (third generation Japanese Americans) was determined to undo the injustice perpetrated on Fred Korematsu and their own family members who were imprisoned along with Fred Korematsu;

and WHEREAS, The writ of error coram nobis has been extremely limited in application, but has been used by courts once an individual has been convicted and released in order to correct a court’s fundamental error or to reverse a manifest injustice.

For Fred Korematsu, the fundamental errors at the Supreme Court level were the suppression, alteration, and destruction by United States government officials of evidence indicating that Japanese Americans were neither disloyal nor predisposed to espionage and sabotage and that no facts warranted the issuance of the military orders and Executive Order No.

9066.

Thus, Fred Korematsu’s lawyers argued that a fraud on the Supreme Court had been committed, resulting in Fred Korematsu’s conviction;

and WHEREAS, After litigating for nearly a year in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, Fred Korematsu and his legal team emerged triumphant on November 10, 1983, when Judge Marilyn Hall Patel announced from the bench her decision granting the petition for the writ of error coram nobis to overturn Fred Korematsu’s conviction.

The written decision was published on April 19, 1984.

The coram nobis decision in this case impaired the precedent of the original Supreme Court cases which validated the curfew and exclusion orders.

In addition, the decisions influenced Congress’ passage of the Civil Liberties Act of 1988;

and WHEREAS, The Civil Liberties Act of 1988 was signed into law by President Ronald Reagan and recognized the grave injustice that was done to United States residents and citizens of Japanese ancestry by the forced relocation and incarceration of civilians during World War II.

Congress acknowledged that the incarceration of these Japanese Americans occurred because of racial prejudice, wartime hysteria, and a failure of political leadership.

The apology extended on behalf of the United States was also intended to make more credible and to be consistent with any expressions of concern by the United States over violations of human rights committed by other nations;