Comparing SRES 47 → SCR 10 — Relative to Fred Korematsu Day of Civil Liberties and the ...

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[Congressional Bills 119th Congress] [From the U.S.
Bill Text - SCR-10 Fred Korematsu Day of Civil Liberties and the Constitution.
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47 Introduced in Senate (IS)] <DOC> 119th CONGRESS 1st Session S.
03/06/19 - Chaptered 03/01/19 - Enrolled 01/28/19 - Introduced SCR-10 Fred Korematsu Day of Civil Liberties and the Constitution.(2019-2020) Text >> Votes >> History >> Bill Analysis >> Today's Law As Amended >> Compare Versions >> Status >> Comments To Author >> Add To My Favorites >> SHARE THIS:
RES.
SCR10:v97#DOCUMENTBill Start Senate Concurrent Resolution No.
47 Designating January 30, 2025, as ``Fred Korematsu Day of Civil Liberties and the Constitution''.
10 CHAPTER 11 Relative to Fred Korematsu Day of Civil Liberties and the Constitution.
_______________________________________________________________________ IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES January 30, 2025 Ms.
[ Filed with Secretary of State  March 06, 2019.
Hirono (for herself, Ms.
] LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGESTSCR 10, Pan.
Duckworth, Mr.
Fred Korematsu Day of Civil Liberties and the Constitution.This measure would designate that January 30, 2019, be observed as Fred Korematsu Day of Civil Liberties and the Constitution.Digest Key Fiscal Committee:
Blumenthal, Mr.
NO  Bill TextWHEREAS, Fred Korematsu was born in Oakland, California, on January 30, 1919, to Japanese immigrant parents.
Booker, Ms.
Upon graduation from Castlemont High School in 1937, Mr.
Cortez Masto, Mr.
Korematsu was unable to serve in the United States military because his selective service classification had been changed to “Enemy Alien,” even though he was a United States citizen.
Kaine, Mr.
Mr.
Merkley, Mrs.
Korematsu attended the Master School of Welding and worked at the docks in Oakland as a shipyard welder, quickly rising through the ranks to foreman until his union barred all people of Japanese ancestry and his employment was terminated;
Murray, Mr.
and WHEREAS, In 1942, Fred Korematsu refused to comply with Civilian Exclusion Order No.
Padilla, Mr.
34 which was authorized by President Franklin D.
Whitehouse, and Mr.
Roosevelt’s Executive Order No.
Wyden) submitted the following resolution;
9066.
which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary _______________________________________________________________________ RESOLUTION Designating January 30, 2025, as ``Fred Korematsu Day of Civil Liberties and the Constitution''.
It imposed strict curfew regulations and required over 100,000 United 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 Fred Toyosaburo Korematsu was born on January 30, 1919, in Oakland, California, to Japanese immigrant parents;
and WHEREAS, Fred Korematsu was arrested on May 30, 1942, and charged with violating the military’s exclusion order.
Whereas 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;
While he spent two and one-half months in the Presidio stockade prison in San Francisco, California the Executive Director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California, Ernest Besig, offered to defend him.
Whereas after the signing of Executive Order 9066 on February 19, 1942, by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, which authorized the forced imprisonment of 120,000 people of Japanese descent into prison camps, the majority of whom were American citizens, Fred Korematsu resisted that infringement of American civil liberties and attempted to continue his life as an American citizen until he was arrested, convicted, and incarcerated at a concentration camp in Topaz, Utah;
Fred Korematsu was tried and convicted by a federal court and taken by military authorities to the Tanforan Assembly Center in San Bruno, California.
Whereas, in 1944, Fred Korematsu appealed his case to the United States Supreme Court, which ruled against him, declaring in Korematsu v.
After spending several months at Tanforan, a former horse racing track, Fred Korematsu and his family were sent to the Topaz concentration camp in Utah.
United States that Japanese incarceration was a ``military necessity'' rather than an egregious act of racial discrimination;
Believing the discriminatory conviction violated freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution, Fred Korematsu appealed his case.
Whereas, in 1980, President 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'';
Though the appeal went up to the United States Supreme Court in 1944, justice was denied to Fred Korematsu when the Supreme Court upheld the conviction by a six to three vote, leaving him devastated and wondering what effect this would have on other Americans;
Whereas, 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.
and WHEREAS, Following World War II and the release of Japanese Americans from the concentration camps, Fred Korematsu attempted to resume life as an American citizen, marrying his wife Kathryn and raising two children, Karen and Ken.
United States;
He maintained his innocence through the years, but the conviction had a lasting impact on Fred Korematsu’s basic rights, affecting his ability to obtain employment;
Whereas following the conclusion of the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians and the findings on governmental misconduct, Fred Korematsu reopened his case, and on November 10, 1983, the United States District Court of Northern California in San Francisco overturned his conviction;
and WHEREAS, In 1982, with newly discovered evidence found by Peter Irons, a legal historian and attorney, and Aiko Herzig-Yoshinaga, a researcher, Fred Korematsu made the decision to reopen his 1944 conviction by petitioning for a writ of error coram nobis to have the wrongful conviction vacated.
Whereas Fred Korematsu's courageously fought injustice by challenging the constitutionality of Executive Order 9066, and his lawsuit remains an important lesson about the fragility of individual civil liberties during a time when the Nation is experiencing threats to its national security;
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;
Whereas Fred Korematsu continued to fight injustice and defend the liberties of Muslim 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 Sedition Acts of 1798, the suspension of habeas corpus during the Civil War, the prosecution of dissenters during 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;
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.
Whereas the democratic character of the American people will be nourished and enhanced by opportunities for civic education on the significant challenges that have been posed to our Constitution;
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.
Whereas a day of annual national reflection on how the Fred Korematsu quest for justice is important to educating the American people about preserving civil liberties and the principle of equality before the law;
9066.
and Whereas the States of California, Florida, Hawaii, Virginia, Arizona, New Jersey, and Michigan have already designated January 30 as Fred Korematsu Day to commemorate his lifelong fight for civil liberties and the Constitution:
Thus, Fred Korematsu’s lawyers argued that a fraud on the Supreme Court had been committed, resulting in Fred Korematsu’s conviction;
Now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the Senate-- (1) designates January 30, 2025, as ``Fred Korematsu Day of Civil Liberties and the Constitution'';
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.
(2) recognizes Fred Korematsu's bravery and resilience in the face of adversity;
The written decision was published on April 19, 1984.
and (3) encourages all people to reflect on the importance of political leadership and vigilance and on the values of justice and civil rights during times of uncertainty and emergency.
The coram nobis decision in this case impaired the precedent of the original Supreme Court cases which validated the curfew and exclusion orders.
<all>
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;
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and WHEREAS, On January 15, 1998, Fred Korematsu was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the highest honor bestowed upon a civilian who has made a particularly meritorious contribution to the nation’s interests;
and WHEREAS, Fred Korematsu continued his efforts to ensure that Americans do not forget the lessons learned from our own history as he traveled across the country, speaking at various colleges, law schools, and other organizations.
On March 30, 2005, a true civil liberties hero was lost when Fred Korematsu passed away at 86 years of age due to respiratory illness in San Rafael, California, leaving behind a lasting influence on the importance of maintaining the constitutionally mandated guarantee of liberty for all Americans;
and WHEREAS, Section 6722 of the Government Code requires the Governor annually to proclaim January 30 as Fred Korematsu Day of Civil Liberties and the Constitution, and Section 37222.15 of the Education Code designates that date of each year as having special significance in public schools and educational institutions and encourages those entities to observe that date by conducting exercises remembering the life of Fred Korematsu and recognizing the importance of preserving civil liberties;
now, therefore, be it Resolved by the Senate of the State of California, the Assembly thereof concurring, That Wednesday, January 30, 2019, be observed as Fred Korematsu Day of Civil Liberties and the Constitution;
and be it further Resolved, That Fred Korematsu’s life and his willingness to assert that our civil liberties are the hallmark of our great country have left an indelible mark on the history of our nation and hold a special meaning for the people of California;
and be it further Resolved, That on Fred Korematsu Day of Civil Liberties and the Constitution, the Legislature also encourages all public schools and educational institutions to conduct exercises remembering the life of Fred Korematsu and recognizing the importance of preserving civil liberties, even in times of real or perceived crisis;
and be it further Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.