Tag: fred korematsu

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NAPABA and Fred T. Korematsu Institute Form Pioneering Affiliation to Champion Civil Rights, Combat Anti-Asian Bias, and Promote Civic Empowerment

For Immediate Release: 
Date: August 24, 2023 		NAPABA Contact:
Priya Purandare, Executive Director
Fred T. Korematsu Institute Contact:
Michelle Mitchell, Communications Director

WASHINGTON – The National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA) and the Fred T. Korematsu Institute, a 501(c)(3) national civil rights education organization based in San Francisco, announced a historic, groundbreaking affiliation formalizing their organizations’ longstanding relationship based on a shared interest in promoting civic participation, racial equity, and civil rights. The affiliation will strengthen the missions of both institutions by increasing resources and understanding and combating anti-Asian discrimination and bias through education and advocacy.

The Korematsu Institute was founded on the legacy of Fred Korematsu, a Japanese American who, in 1942, refused to comply with the World War II Executive Order to forcibly remove and incarcerate American Citizens of Japanese descent in prison camps. After he was arrested and convicted of defying the government’s order, he appealed his case to the United States Supreme Court. In an infamous decision that joins the ranks of Dred Scott v. Sandford and Plessy v. Ferguson, the Supreme Court ruled against him, holding that the incarceration was justified due to military necessity. After discovering that the government had withheld evidence and that the Solicitor General lied to the Court, Korematsu’s conviction was overturned in 1983 through a writ of Coram Nobis. In 1998, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, our nation’s highest civilian honor, for his steadfast advocacy.

“My father’s decades-long fight against injustice in the face of discrimination was not only a legal and constitutional achievement, but a story of individual humanity that resonates with so many in this country,” said Dr. Karen Korematsu, Founder and President of the Korematsu Institute. “While law schools teach my father’s case to dissect legal principles, we cannot forget what he and so many other incarcerated Japanese Americans experienced on a human level during that dark period in our nation’s history.”

Founded in 1989, NAPABA is the nation’s largest Asian Pacific American membership organization representing the interests of 60,000 attorneys, judges, law professors, and law students. NAPABA is a leader in addressing civil rights issues confronting Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander communities. Without question, its values align with the spirit of Fred Korematsu’s advocacy and the Institute’s commitment to equality.

“Fred Korematsu’s case, and that of fellow Japanese American detainees such as Minoru Yasui, Gordon Hirabayashi and those of Fred Oyama and Sei Fujii, who challenged alien land laws after their properties were illegally seized, are not just historical precedents — they are the legal framework we use to fight discrimination against Asian Americans, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islanders,” said Sandra Leung, President of NAPABA. “It is important for all Americans to understand the leading role that Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders have played in shaping the civil rights jurisprudence of this nation.”

“Fred Korematsu’s journey, now more than ever, is a seminal, timeless story — especially at a time in our nation and in the world marked by growing ignorance and intolerance, fueled by advances in technology and the swiftness of disinformation,” said Peggy Saika, Board Chair of the Korematsu Institute. “We are confident that between the Institute’s long-standing care of his legacy and NAPABA’s reach in the legal community, we will safeguard the opportunity to continue learning the lessons of Fred Korematsu’s strength for generations to come.”

“This affiliation will amplify the impact of both NAPABA and the Korematsu Institute,” said Priya Purandare, Executive Director of NAPABA and the Korematsu Institute. “With the Institute’s expertise and K-12 educational and public resources, we can collectively bring the stories of Fred Korematsu and other AANHPI civil rights legal icons to inspire future generations of Americans.”

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The National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA) represents the interests of over 60,000 Asian Pacific American (APA) legal professionals and nearly 90 national, state, and local APA bar associations. NAPABA is a leader in addressing civil rights issues confronting Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander communities. Through its national network, NAPABA provides a strong voice for increased diversity of the federal and state judiciaries, advocates for equal opportunity in the workplace, works to eliminate hate crimes and anti-immigrant sentiment, and promotes the professional development of people of all backgrounds in the legal profession.

The Fred T. Korematsu Institute, named after Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient Fred Korematsu, is a national education advocacy organization committed to promoting civic participation and education to advance racial equity, social justice, and human rights for all. Through its educational programs, media and exhibits, and speaking engagements, the Korematsu Institute inspires people and organizations to, as Fred said, “stand up for what is right.”

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AABANY Reenacts Korematsu v. United States at NAPABA Convention in Austin, Texas

On Friday, Nov. 8, during the Plenary Lunch Session at the NAPABA Convention in Austin, Texas, AABANY’s Trial Reenactment Team performed “Fred Korematsu and His Fight for Justice,” reenacting Korematsu v. United States. AABANY had performed an earlier version of this reenactment at the NAPABA Convention in Washington, DC, in 2017, to mark the 75th anniversary of Executive Order 9066 which sent some 120,000 Japanese American citizens to internment camps without any due process. This year, to mark Fred Korematsu’s 100th birthday, AABANY’s Trial Reenactment Team performed an updated script which took into account the developments that occurred since 2017. The Korematsu case was nominally overruled in a footnote by Chief Justice Roberts in Trump v. Hawaii (2018), which upheld the Muslim Travel Ban in part. This reenactment included modifications that featured text from the majority and dissenting opinions in that case, and concluded with words from an Op-Ed written by Fred’s daughter Karen, lamenting that the United States Supreme Court had replaced one bad precedent with another.

This updated Korematsu reenactment was made special by the participation of new cast members, including Dale Minami, Don Tamaki, Peggy Nagae, and Hon. Edward Chen, members of the legal team that brought the coram nobis proceeding which overturned the wrongful conviction of Fred Korematsu. Dale, Don, Peggy, and Judge Chen played themselves. Also playing herself was Judge Marilyn Hall Patel, the United States District Court Judge who presided over the case. Karen Korematsu played herself and closed the show with moving and inspiring words from her June 28, 2018 New York Times Op-Ed article.

The 2019 Korematsu reenactment played to an audience of 900 at the NAPABA Convention Friday Plenary Lunch session, and it is easily the largest single audience for any AABANY Trial Reenactment. Judge Chin moderated a panel discussion about this case and its continuing relevance immediately after the lunch session, featuring a panel that included Don Tamaki, Dale Minami, Karen Narasaki, Hon. Marilyn Hall Patel, Hon. Edward Chen and Karen Korematsu.

Thanks to everyone who took part in performing in this historic reenactment, especially those who were part of Fred Korematsu’s Fight for Justice. We are grateful for the leadership of Kathy Hirata Chin and Hon. Denny Chin for leading AABANY’s Trial Reenactment Team. To learn more about AABANY’s Trial Reenactments, visit the reenactments website at reenactments.aabany.org.

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AABANY Co-Sponsors: Trial Reenactment of Korematsu v. U.S.

On April 3, 2019, AABANY co-sponsored with Fordham APALSA and the Federal Bar Association a trial reenactment of the historical case, Korematsu v. U.S. in a packed Moot Courtroom at Fordham Law School.

As every seat in the spacious Moot Courtroom filled up and audience members began to stand along the sides, Dean Matthew Diller of Fordham Law School delivered passionate opening remarks. The Dean noted that the reenactment is vital to this time, for we not only need to remember the best of this nation, but also the worst of it. Judge Denny Chin, United States Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, and his wife Kathy Hirata Chin played their usual roles of Narrators 1 and 2. The cast of the reenactment consisted of students and faculty from Fordham and a few members of the AABANY Trial Reenactment Team.

Korematsu’s struggles were recounted on a sunny afternoon in April 2019, yet a sense of heaviness that seemed to belong to an older time filled the room. Fred Korematsu was arrested during WWII for his disobedience of Executive Order 9066, which ordered Korematsu to an incarceration camp for being Japanese American. Korematsu spent the rest of his life fighting for justice. The performers’ voices were amplified through microphones, accompanied by PowerPoint slides projected onto the wall on the stage, guiding the audience through Korematsu’s decades-long struggle. When Fred Korematsu exclaimed on the stage, “The Supreme Courts’ decision meant that being an American was not enough — you also have to look like one; otherwise, you may be seen as an enemy of the state,” one cannot help but reflect on the differences and similarities of minority experiences between past and present.

The last part of the reenactment struck a thought-provoking and alarming note when the Korematsu case was overruled in a footnote in the Supreme Court’s decision in Trump v. Hawaii, but the decision itself served as justification for the travel ban targeting Muslims, raising the question of whether one injustice was exchanged with another. The reenactment ended with a wave of prolonged and warm applause from the audience.

A Q&A session and a reception followed, ending the night with great food, drinks and company.

We thank Judge Denny Chin and Kathy Hirata Chin for their continuing contributions to AABANY’s reenactment program. We thank Fordham Law School for hosting the event, and Fordham APALSA and the Federal Bar Association for co-sponsoring the reenactment. We thank the volunteer actors for delivering incredible performances. Last but not least, we thank everyone who attended the event for joining us in remembering Fred Korematsu and celebrating his achievements.

For more information on AABANY’s trial reenactment programs, visit our reenactment website at https://reenactments.aabany.org/.

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It Can Happen Here! The Fred Korematsu Story – Los Angeles Review of Books

It Can Happen Here! The Fred Korematsu Story – Los Angeles Review of Books

Thanks to Rocky Chin, AABANY Trailblazer Award recipient (2015) and AABANY co-founder, for sharing this timely and important book review of Fred Korematsu Speaks Up. Here is an excerpt:

WHAT PROTECTIONS DO WE HAVE as American citizens when our country is under attack? Do we sacrifice constitutional protections for the perceived need for security? Fred Korematsu Speaks Up — an illustrated book written for young readers — raises these issues in the story of a young Japanese-American citizen who is incarcerated when the country of his parents’ origin, Japan, and the country of his birth, the United States, go to war.

To read the full book review, follow the link in the title.

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2016 Fred T. Korematsu Summer Fellowship

Established by a generous gift from Parkin Lee and
The Rockefeller Group, the NAPABA Law Foundation in partnership with the
Fred T. Korematsu Institute have launched the Fred T. Korematsu Summer
Fellowship program.

The Fred T. Korematsu Summer Fellowship provides a
$6000 scholarship for one law student to gain meaningful legal
experience at a public interest host organization. The Fellowship is
open to all rising 1L and 2L law students at any qualified
host organization in the United States. Deadline for organizations to apply is February 5, 2016.
 The application will be available on the
NAPABA website shortly.

Find out more at http://bit.ly/2016korematsuflwshp