Every year NAPABA at its national convention, strives to bring to the forefront vital issues of importance to the Asian Pacific American legal community. This year, NAPABA will feature two luncheon plenaries, a reenactment of Fred Korematsu’s fight for justice, and a panel discussion on the current issues facing the LGBTQ community in light of the ongoing debates in Texas and before the Supreme Court. Join us at the 2019 NAPABA Convention in Austin, TX as we explore these issues and many more.
Luncheon plenaries are included in the Convention registration fee. You must be registered for the 2019 NAPABA Convention to attend these events.
AABANY is excited to announce that it will be presenting the lunch plenary session at the NAPABA Convention on Friday, November 8, 2019. See details below.
Friday, Nov. 8 | 12 – 1:15 p.m. | Fred Korematsu’s Fight for Justice: A Reenactment of Korematsu v. United States.
Over seventy-five years ago, on February 19, 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066, uprooting some 120,000 Japanese-Americans—two-thirds of them American citizens—from their homes on the West Coast and forcing them into concentration camps.
Although the rest of his family reported as ordered, Fred Korematsu refused to go. He was arrested, and convicted of violating the Executive Order and related military proclamations. He appealed his conviction first to the Ninth Circuit and then to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court affirmed his conviction as well as the convictions of Minoru Yasui and Gordon Hirabayashi, upholding the Executive Order.
In 1983, some forty years later, the federal court in San Francisco vacated Korematsu’s conviction after evidence was uncovered showing that the government had suppressed evidence that undermined its assertions in the cases before the Supreme Court that the relocation and incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II without individualized consideration of loyalty was a matter of military necessity. Fred Korematsu spent the rest of his life teaching the lessons of his case. As he put it, “No one should ever be locked away simply because they share the same race, ethnicity, or religion as a spy or terrorist.”
This program will tell the story of Fred Korematsu and his fight for justice through narration, reenactment of court proceedings, and historic documents and photographs. This is the eleventh of a series of historic reenactments presented by the Asian American Bar Association of New York.
Generously supported by Google
Featuring the AABANY Reenactment Team and special guests:
Judge Edward Chen
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California
Judge Denny Chin
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
Kathy Hirata Chin
Crowell & Morning
Karen Korematsu
Fred T. Korematsu Institute
Dale Minami
Minami Tamaki LLP
Peggy Nagae
White Men as Full Diversity Partners
Karen Narasaki
U.S. Commission on Civil Rights
Judge Marilyn Hall Patel
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California (ret.)
Don Tamaki
Minami Tamaki LLP
Interested in continuing the discussion?
Join us for a special session in which our distinguished panel, including members of the coram nobis legal team and the judge who overturned Fred Korematsu’s conviction, will discuss Korematsu and its legacy from their own perspectives:
Session 308 | 1:30 – 2:45 p.m. | Fred Korematsu and His Fight for Justice: A Panel Discussion
The reenactment performed during Friday’s plenary session tells the story of Fred Korematsu and his fight for justice through narration, reenactment of court proceedings, and historic documents and photographs. Included in the cast are several individuals who play themselves, as well as others who lived through the proceedings as coram nobis team members. This program will build on the themes explored in the case reenactment and explore how the reversal came to be, how race and xenophobia and national security continue to impact our laws, and how we can use the lessons of the past to inform our actions today.
AABANY is also excited to announce that Glenn Magpantay, AABANY LGBT Committee Co-Chair, is slated as a speaker at the lunch plenary session on Saturday, November 9, 2019. See details below.
Saturday, Nov. 9 | 12:15 – 1:30 p.m. | Beyond Marriage Equality: The Next Stage of Inclusion
Lawrence v. Texas opened the door for inclusion for diverse communities, including laying the groundwork for marriage equality to become a right across the country. However, true inclusion is still a work in progress. Federal protections are incomplete. Some states are passing laws that discriminate against LGBTQ individuals, while others expand protections. And others try to find laws that take into account an individual’s and an organization’s religious beliefs. This session will connect the current issues faced by the LGBTQ community to the lived experience of community members and the on-the-ground debates going on in Texas and what attorneys can do in support of inclusion.
Generously supported by Paul Weiss
Moderator:
Angela G. Lim
Grasshopper Ventures, Group, Inc. and Viz.ai, Inc.
Speakers:
Alexander L. Chen
National Center for Lesbian Rights and Harvard Law School
Associate Justice Sabrina Shizue McKenna
Supreme Court of the State of Hawai’i
Glenn Magpantay
National Queer Asian Pacific Islander Alliance
John Nechman
Katine & Nechman, LLP and South Texas College of Law Houston
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Have you registered for the NAPABA Convention? The advance rate deadline is just around the corner! Save up to $150 when you register in advance. Advance rates will only be available until Oct. 28 at 11:59 p.m. CT.
For more information and to register, click here.
