BILL NUMBER: AB 37	ENROLLED
	BILL TEXT

	PASSED THE SENATE  AUGUST 17, 2009
	PASSED THE ASSEMBLY  AUGUST 20, 2009
	AMENDED IN SENATE  JULY 8, 2009
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  APRIL 15, 2009
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MARCH 25, 2009
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MARCH 10, 2009

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Furutani
   (Coauthors: Assembly Members Blumenfield, Brownley, Chesbro, De
Leon, Eng, Hayashi, Jones, Lieu, Ma, Monning, John A. Perez,
Portantino, Salas, Torrico, and Yamada)
   (Coauthors: Senators Alquist, DeSaulnier, Hancock, Liu, Lowenthal,
and Romero)

                        DECEMBER 1, 2008

   An act to add Section 66020 to the Education Code, relating to
public postsecondary education.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 37, Furutani. Public postsecondary education: honorary degrees.

   Under existing law, the segments of the public postsecondary
education system in the state include the University of California,
which is administered by the Regents of the University of California,
the California State University, which is administered by the
Trustees of the California State University, and the California
Community Colleges, which are administered by the Board of Governors
of the California Community Colleges. Existing law authorizes these
educational institutions to award various types of degrees.
   This bill would require the Trustees of the California State
University and the Board of Governors of the California Community
Colleges, and would request the Regents of the University of
California, to work with their respective colleges and universities
to confer an honorary degree upon each person, living or deceased,
who was forced to leave his or her postsecondary studies as a result
of federal Executive Order 9066 which caused the incarceration of
individuals of Japanese ancestry during World War II.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  (a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
   (1) On February 19, 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued
Executive Order 9066, which caused the incarceration of approximately
120,000 Americans and resident aliens of Japanese ancestry in camps
scattered throughout the United States during World War II.
   (2) Executive Order 9066 put the lives of these individuals, who
were forcibly relocated from their homes and communities and unjustly
detained by the United States government, on hold.
   (3) On August 10, 1988, President Ronald Wilson Reagan signed into
law the Civil Liberties Act of 1988, declaring that Executive Order
9066 was not justified by military necessity and hence was caused by
racial prejudice, war hysteria, and a failure of political
leadership.
   (4) The Civil Liberties Act of 1988 apologized on behalf of the
people of the United States for the evacuation, relocation, and
incarceration of Americans and permanent resident aliens of Japanese
ancestry during World War II and provided for the restitution to
those individuals of Japanese ancestry who were incarcerated.
   (5) The disruption of over 2,500 students' educational pursuits
was among the consequences of the country's wartime policy, which
removed students enrolled in California's colleges and universities
from their studies.
   (b) It is the intent of the Legislature that postsecondary
educational institutions confer an honorary degree upon each
individual whose studies at a postsecondary educational institution
were disrupted by Executive Order 9066, and to allow a representative
to accept an honorary degree on behalf of individuals who are
deceased.
  SEC. 2.  Section 66020 is added to the Education Code, to read:
   66020.  (a) The Trustees of the California State University and
the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges shall,
and the Regents of the University of California are requested to,
work with their respective colleges and universities to confer an
honorary degree upon each person, living or deceased, who was forced
to leave his or her studies at the public postsecondary educational
institution in which that person was enrolled as a result of the
issuance of federal Executive Order 9066 on February 19, 1942, which
caused the evacuation, relocation, and incarceration of individuals
of Japanese ancestry during World War II.
   (b) In cases where an honorary degree is conferred upon a person
who is deceased, the person's surviving next of kin, or another
representative chosen by the person's surviving next of kin, may
accept the honorary degree on the deceased person's behalf.
   (c) Independent colleges and universities, as defined in
subdivision (b) of Section 66010, are urged to comply with the terms
of this section.
   (d) This section shall be implemented in a cost-effective manner
by incorporating, to the extent practicable, any ceremony for the
purpose of conferring honorary degrees with a previously scheduled
commencement or graduation activity.