The AABANY Law Review’s Special Edition issue, released at the AABANY fall conference, is available for purchase ($20) on the AABANY website at http://lawreview.aabany.org/current-issue. The issue features annotated reenactment scripts of five historic Asian American trials written by Honorable Denny Chin, Chancellor and Dean Frank H. Wu, Kathy Hirata Chin, and Vincent T. Chang. These plays have been presented by Asian American bar associations and law schools all over the nation. The issue includes the following reenactment scripts with an introduction and foreword from the authors:
- The Constitution in a Time of War: The Trial of Minoru Yasui: Japanese-American lawyer Minoru Yasui defied a curfew order issued under Executive Order 9066 to challenge its legality in court.
- Building Our Legacy: The Murder of Vincent Chin: Vincent Chin was beaten to death in 1982 in Detroit. When the assailants didn’t even receive jail time, the injustice galvanized the Asian American community.
- The Massie Cases: Race, Honor, and Justice In Depression-Era Hawaii: Thalia Massie’s allegation that she was raped by a gang of Hawaiians leads to two trials and exposes the racial and political tensions in Depression-era Hawaii.
- The Trial of Tokyo Rose: United States v. Iva Toguri D’Aquino: Cast as the mythical “Tokyo Rose” who taunted Allied forces on Radio Tokyo, Iva Toguri d’Aquino stands trial for treason following World War II.
- Race, Color, and Citizenship: Ozawa and Thind: In the 1920s when, by law, only “free white persons” and “persons of African descent” could be naturalized, the Supreme Court addresses where Asians fit in.
Questions can be directed to [email protected].