BILL NUMBER: AB 1775 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 27, 2010
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 5, 2010
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Furutani
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Block and Hayashi)
FEBRUARY 9, 2010
An act to amend Section 37222 of the Education Code, and to add
Section 6722 to the Government Code, relating to public schools.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1775, as amended, Furutani. Public schools: Fred Korematsu Day
of Civil Liberties and the Constitution.
Existing law requires the Governor to proclaim certain days each
year for specified reasons. Existing law also designates particular
days each year as having special significance in public schools and
educational institutions and encourages those entities to conduct
suitable commemorative exercises on those dates.
This bill would require the Governor annually to proclaim
April 19 January 30 as Fred Korematsu Day of
Civil Liberties and the Constitution, would designate that date of
each year as having special significance in public schools and
educational institutions, and would encourage those entities to
observe that date by conducting exercises remembering the life of
Fred Korematsu and recognizing the importance of preserving civil
liberties.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. (a) It is the intent of the Legislature in enacting
this act to do all of the following:
(1) Declare April 19 January 30 the
Fred Korematsu Day of Civil Liberties and the Constitution.
(2) Emphasize the constitutional rights afforded to all Americans
regardless of race or ancestry, particularly the rights to due
process and life, liberty, and property that are guaranteed by the
Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments.
(3) Uphold the civil liberties of all citizens that are granted by
the United States and California Constitutions, especially in times
of real or perceived crisis.
(b) The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(1) During World War II, Fred Korematsu was arrested and convicted
for remaining in California defying the
exclusion order at a time when persons of Japanese ancestry,
including United States citizens, were ordered to live in
concentration camps. Four decades later, Korematsu's wrongful
conviction was overturned by Judge Marilyn Hall Patel of the United
States District Court. In granting Mr. Korematsu's petition for writ
of error coram nobis, Judge Patel acknowledged in her decision that
a "grave "a grave injustice was done to
American citizens and resident aliens of Japanese ancestry who,
without individual review or any probative evidence against them,
were excluded, removed and detained by the United States during World
War II." Judge Patel further stated, "Korematsu
"[Korematsu ] stands as a caution that in times
of distress the shield of military necessity and national security
must not be used to protect governmental actions from close scrutiny
and accountability. It stands as a caution that in times of
international hostility and antagonisms our institutions,
legislative, executive, and judicial, must be prepared to exercise
their authority to protect all citizens from the petty fears and
prejudices that are so easily aroused."
(2) Fred Korematsu's lifelong pursuit of justice on his own behalf
and for countless others is uniquely symbolic of the founding ideals
and traditions of our State and Nation. He remained a tireless
advocate for, and is an enduring symbol of, every American's right to
liberty, due process, and equality without regard to race,
ethnicity, or national origin.
(3) In 1942, Gordon K. Hirabayashi and Minoru Yasui
also defied the curfew and exclusion regulations
imposed on United States citizens and permanent residents
of Japanese ancestry. In 1943, Hirabayashi and Yasui were
also wrongfully convicted . And as with Fred Korematsu, they
too were and denied justice by the United
States Supreme Court in 1943 .
(4) The Fifth Amendment and the Fourteenth Amendment of our United
States Constitution both guarantee a right to due process. These
rights were violated when Americans of Japanese ancestry were denied
the fundamental rights to notice of any criminal charges, the right
to attorneys, and the right to a trial. Korematsu, Hirabayashi, and
Yasui each took a principled stand at great personal sacrifice in
protesting government sanctioned discrimination based on racial
heritage and ancestry.
(5) Fred Korematsu was born in Oakland, California, on January 30,
1919, to Japanese immigrant parents. Upon graduation from Castlemont
High School in 1938 1937 , Fred
Korematsu wanted to serve his country in the military and attempted
to enlist in the United States National Guard and the
United States Coast Guard, but was rejected because his Selective
Service classification had been changed to "Enemy Alien," even though
he was a citizen of the United States.
(6) Fred 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. When World War
II broke out, Fred Korematsu suffered from acts of discrimination, as
he was turned away from restaurants and barber shops, and denied the
right to work, travel, and ultimately to reside in his native State
of California.
(7) In 1942, Fred Korematsu refused to comply with Civilian
Exclusion Order No. 34 which was authorized by President Franklin D.
Roosevelt's Executive Order No. 9066. It imposed strict curfew
regulations and required over 100,000 Americans
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. Rather than reporting to
the assembly center with the rest of his family, Fred Korematsu
chose to defy the order and decided to carry on his life as an
American citizen and a citizen of the State of California.
(8) Fred Korematsu was arrested on May 30, 1942, and charged with
violating the military's exclusion order. After
While spending two and one-half months in a San
Francisco prison the Presidio stockade
prison in San Francisco , the Executive Director of the
American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California, Ernest Besig,
posted bail and offered to defend him. Fred
Korematsu was tried and convicted by a federal court and taken by
military authorities to the Tanforan concentration camp
Relocation Center in San Bruno, California ,
where he lived in squalor. After spending several months at
Tanforan, a former horse racing track, Korematsu and his family were
sent to the Topaz concentration camp in Utah. Believing the
discriminatory conviction went against freedoms guaranteed by the
Constitution, Fred Korematsu appealed his case. 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.
(9) Thousands Tens of thousands of
Japanese American soldiers fought in Europe , North Africa,
and the Pacific during World War II and served with indomitable
spirit and valor including those in the 442nd Infantry, the
100th Infantry Battalion, the 522nd Field Artillery Battalion,
the Military Intelligence Service, the 232nd Combat Engineer Company,
and the 1399th Engineer Construction Battalion. The 442nd Infantry
of the United States Army was a combat team composed primarily of
Japanese American soldiers who fought in Europe. Some members of the
442nd were recruited directly from the concentration camps, and many
others had relatives that were incarcerated in the camps.
The Grouped together as the 442nd Regimental
Combat Team , the unit became the most decorated unit in
United States military history for its size and length of service,
receiving seven Presidential Unit Citations, 21 Medals of Honor,
29 52 Distinguished Service Crosses,
560 Silver Stars, 4,000 Bronze Stars, and numerous additional
distinctions.
(10) 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. He maintained his innocence through the
years but the conviction had a lasting impact on Fred Korematsu's
basic rights, affecting his ability to vote and
obtain employment.
(11) In January of 1982, with newly discovered
evidence found by Peter Irons, a wartime
legal historian and attorney, and Aiko Yoshinaga-Herzig, 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. 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 Korematsu. Similarly, Minoru Yasui and Gordon K.
Hirabayashi also petitioned for writs of error coram nobis in
Oregon and Washington. Fred Korematsu's attorneys worked closely with
the legal teams assembled for the Minoru Yasui and Gordon K.
Hirabayashi cases. These pro bono teams were also
composed primarily of Sansei, and together the attorneys for the
three cases developed the legal strategies that would prove
successful in defending the civil rights of Fred Korematsu, Minoru
Yasui, Gordon K. Hirabayashi, and all Americans.
(12) 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. For Fred Korematsu, the
fundamental errors at the Supreme Court level were the suppression,
alteration, and destruction of evidence by United States government
officials that Japanese Americans were not disloyal nor were
predisposed to espionage and sabotage, as had been argued by the
government in the Korematsu, Hirabayashi, and Yasui cases, and that
no facts warranted the issuance of the military orders and Executive
Order No. 9066. Thus, Fred Korematsu's lawyers argued that a fraud on
the Supreme Court had been committed, resulting in Fred Korematsu's
conviction.
(13) After litigating for over one 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.
The written decision was published on April 19, 1984.
(14) The decision by Judge Patel influenced petitions for writ of
error coram nobis in the United States District Courts of Oregon and
Washington, where Minoru Yasui and Gordon K. Hirabayashi successfully
filed to have their wrongful convictions vacated. The coram nobis
decisions in these cases impaired the precedent of the original
Supreme Court cases which validated the curfew and exclusion orders.
In addition, the decisions influenced Congress' passage of the Civil
Liberties Act of 1988.
(15) 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.
(16) In January 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. That same year, Fred Korematsu also
received the California Senate Medal.
(17) On June 11, 1998, Fred Korematsu received the first
California Senate Medal.
(17)
(18) 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 functions other organizations
. He received honorary doctorates from the University of San
Francisco, California State University, East Bay
(formerly California State University at Hayward
, Hayward) , McGeorge School of Law, and the
City University of New York Law School. Fred Korematsu shared his
story and encouraged others to speak up when faced with injustice.
(19) After September 11, 2001 (9/11), Korematsu continued to speak
out. In 2004, he filed a petition with the United States Supreme
Court on behalf of Muslim inmates at Guantanamo Bay, warning that the
government's extreme measures were reminiscent of the past.
(18)
(20) Fred Korematsu's life was the basis for the Emmy
winning 2002 award-winning 2001 Public
Broadcasting Service documentary "Of Civil Wrongs and Rights: The
Fred Korematsu Story," coproduced by Eric Paul Fournier and Fred
Korematsu's son, Ken Korematsu. The coram nobis cases were also the
subject of an Oscar nominated film, "Unfinished Business"
produced directed by Steven Okazaki.
Fred Korematsu's daughter, Karen Korematsu-Haigh, helped found the
Korematsu Civil Rights Fund sponsored by the Bay Area Asian Law
Caucus.
(19)
(21) A true civil liberties hero was lost on March 30,
2005, when Fred Korematsu passed away at 86 years of age due to
respiratory illness in Larkspur San Rafael
, California, leaving behind a lasting influence on the
importance of maintaining the constitutionally mandated guarantee of
liberty for all Americans.
(20)
(22) On April 18, 2008 2009
, Seattle University School of Law opened the "Fred T.
Korematsu Center for Law and Equality."
(21)
(23) On April 30, 2009, the Asian Law Caucus in San
Francisco officially launched the Fred T. Korematsu Institute
for Civil Rights and Education. The mission of the institute is
to advance pan-ethnic civil rights issues, in a post-9/11 context,
through education, leadership development, and activism. Fred
Korematsu's daughter, Karen Korematsu-Haigh, helped found the
Korematsu Institute. She is active in advancing her father's legacy
as a member of the Institute's Steering Committee and as a speaker at
universities and organizations across the country.
(22)
(24) On December 15, 2009, the San Leandro School Board
in a unanimous decision named the new 9th grade campus ,
"San the San Leandro High School, Fred
Korematsu Campus." T. Korematsu Campus. In November
2005, an elementary school at Mace Ranch in Davis, California, was
renamed the Fred T. Korematsu Elementary School at Mace Ranch. In
November 2006, the Discovery Academy elementary school in Oakland,
California, was renamed the Fred T. Korematsu Discovery Academy.
(25) In the late 1980s, two new streets in San Jose, California,
were named Korematsu Court and Hirabayashi Drive.
(23)
(26) 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 holds a
special meaning for the people of California.
SEC. 2. Section 37222 of the Education Code is amended to read:
37222. (a) The following days in each year are designated and set
apart as days having special significance:
(1) The second Wednesday in May as the Day of the Teacher.
(2) April 21 of each year as John Muir Day.
(3) April 6 of each year as California Poppy Day.
(4) May 22 of each year as Harvey Milk Day.
(5) April 19 January 30
of each year as Fred Korematsu Day of Civil Liberties and the
Constitution.
(b) On each of the days designated in subdivision (a), all public
schools and educational institutions are encouraged to observe those
days and to conduct suitable commemorative exercises as follows:
(1) On the Day of the Teacher, exercises commemorating and
directing attention to teachers and the teaching profession.
(2) On John Muir Day, exercises stressing the importance that an
ecologically sound natural environment plays in the quality of life
for all of us, and emphasizing John Muir's significant contributions
to the fostering of that awareness and the indelible mark he left on
the State of California.
(3) On California Poppy Day, exercises honoring the California
Poppy, including instruction about native plants, particularly the
California Poppy, and the economic and aesthetic value of
wildflowers; promoting responsible behavior toward our natural
resources and a spirit of protection toward them; and emphasizing the
value of natural resources and conservation of natural resources.
(4) On Harvey Milk Day, exercises remembering the life of Harvey
Milk, recognizing his accomplishments, and familiarizing pupils with
the contributions he made to this state.
(5) On Fred Korematsu Day of Civil Liberties and the Constitution,
exercises remembering the life of Fred Korematsu and recognizing the
importance of preserving civil liberties, even in times of real or
perceived crisis.
(c) It is the intent of the Legislature that the exercises
encouraged in this section be integrated into the regular school
program, and be conducted by the school or institution within the
amount otherwise budgeted for educational programs.
SEC. 3. Section 6722 is added to the Government Code, to read:
6722. The Governor annually shall proclaim April 19
January 30 as Fred Korematsu Day of Civil
Liberties and the Constitution.