BILL NUMBER: AB 1915 CHAPTERED
BILL TEXT
CHAPTER 570
FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE SEPTEMBER 18, 1998
APPROVED BY GOVERNOR SEPTEMBER 17, 1998
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY AUGUST 28, 1998
PASSED THE SENATE AUGUST 27, 1998
AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 25, 1998
AMENDED IN SENATE JULY 7, 1998
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 22, 1998
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 22, 1998
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 28, 1998
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 14, 1998
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Members Honda, Baca, Cedillo, Migden, and
Shelley
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Alquist, Aroner, Hertzberg, Lempert,
Martinez, Perata, and Washington)
(Coauthors: Senators Dills, Lee, Lockyer, Polanco, Solis,
Vasconcellos, and Watson)
FEBRUARY 17, 1998
An act to add Part 8.5 (commencing with Section 13000) to the
Education Code, relating to the California Civil Liberties Public
Education Act, and making an appropriation therefor.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1915, Honda. WWII internment of Japanese Americans:
California Civil Liberties Public Education Act.
Existing law declares legislative intent to provide accurate
instructional materials to schools on the internment in the United
States of persons of Japanese origin and its impact on
Japanese-American citizens and the Armenian genocide. Existing law
provides legislative findings and declarations that there are few
films or videotapes available on the subject for teachers to use when
teaching pupils about these 2 devastating events, and that films or
videotapes giving the historically accurate depiction of these events
should be made in order that pupils will recognize these events for
the horror they represented. Existing law encourages teachers to use
these films or videotapes as a resource in teaching pupils about
these 2 important historical events that are commonly overlooked in
today's school curriculum.
This bill would enact the California Civil Liberties Public
Education Act. This bill would require the State Librarian to
establish a program for the provision of grants for the purpose of
educating, or developing educational materials, or both, about the
exclusion, forced removal, and internment of Japanese-Americans and
permanent-resident aliens of Japanese ancestry during WWII.
The bill would reappropriate $1,000,000 appropriated to the
Department of Education by the Budget Act of 1998 to the California
State Library for purposes of this act.
Appropriation: yes.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Part 8.5 (commencing with Section 13000) is added to
the Education Code, to read:
PART 8.5. THE CALIFORNIA CIVIL LIBERTIES PUBLIC EDUCATION ACT
CHAPTER 1. GENERAL
13000. (a) This part shall be known and may be cited as the
California Civil Liberties Public Education Act. The purpose of the
California Civil Liberties Public Education Act is to sponsor public
educational activities and development of educational materials to
ensure that the events surrounding the exclusion, forced removal, and
internment of civilians and permanent resident aliens of Japanese
ancestry will be remembered, and so that the causes and circumstance
of this and similar events may be illuminated and understood.
(b) The Legislature finds and declares that the federal Commission
on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians (CWRIC) was
established by Congress in 1980 to "review the facts and
circumstances surrounding Executive Order 9066, issued in February
19, 1942, and the impact of such Executive Order on American citizens
and permanent residents... and to recommend appropriate remedies."
The CWRIC issued a report of its findings in 1983 with the reports
"Personal Justice Denied" and "Personal Justice Denied-Part II,
Recommendations." The reports were based on information gathered
"through 20 days of hearings in cities across the country,
particularly the West Coast, hearing testimony from more than 750
witnesses: evacuees, former government officials, public figures,
interested citizens, and historians and other professionals who have
studied the subjects of Commission inquiry."
(c) The lessons to be learned from the internment of
Japanese-Americans during World War II are embodied in "Personal
Justice Denied-Part II, Recommendations." The CWRIC concluded as
follows: "In sum, Executive Order 9066 was not justified by military
necessity, and the decisions that followed from it-exclusion,
detention, the ending of detention and the ending of exclusion-were
not founded upon military considerations. The broad historical
causes that shaped these decisions were race prejudice, war hysteria,
and a failure of political leadership. Widespread ignorance about
Americans of Japanese descent contributed to a policy conceived in
haste and executed in an atmosphere of fear and anger at Japan. A
grave personal injustice was done to the 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."
(d) The Legislature further finds and declares that President
Ronald Reagan signed into law the federal Civil Liberties Act of 1988
and declared during the signing ceremony that "This is a great day
for America." In that act the Congress declared as follows:
"The Congress recognizes that, as described in the Commission on
Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians, a grave injustice was
done to both citizens and permanent residents of Japanese ancestry
by the evacuation, relocation, and internment of civilians during
World War II. As the Commission documents, these actions were
carried out without adequate security reasons and without any acts of
espionage or sabotage documented by the Commission, and were
motivated largely by racial prejudice, wartime hysteria, and a
failure of political leadership. The excluded individuals of
Japanese ancestry suffered enormous damages, both material and
intangible, and there were incalculable loses in education and job
training, all of which resulted in significant human suffering for
which appropriate compensation has not been made. For these
fundamental violations of the basic civil liberties and
constitutional rights of these individuals of Japanese ancestry, the
Congress apologizes on behalf of the Nation."
CHAPTER 2. CALIFORNIA CIVIL LIBERTIES PUBLIC EDUCATION GRANT
PROGRAM
13015. (a) The State Librarian shall allocate grants pursuant to
the program established by this part. The grants awarded under the
program shall be awarded on a competitive basis.
(b) The State Librarian may contract with independent review
panelists and establish an advisory panel to evaluate and make
recommendations to the State Librarian based on grant applications.
(c) The State Librarian shall select as grant recipients
applicants who meet all of the following criteria:
(1) Applicants demonstrate the capability to, administer and
complete the proposed project within specified deadlines and within
the specified budget.
(2) Applicants have the experience, knowledge, and qualifications
to conduct quality educational activities regarding the exclusion and
detention of Japanese-Americans during World War II.
(3) Projects link the Japanese-American exclusion and detention
experience with the experiences of other populations so that the
cause and circumstances of this and similar violations of civil
rights or acts of injustice may be illuminated and understood.
(4) Projects are designed to maximize the long-term educational
impact of this chapter.
(5) Projects build upon, contribute to, and expand upon, the
existing body of educational and research materials on the exclusion
and detention of Japanese-Americans during World War II.
(6) Projects include the variety of experiences regarding the
exclusion and detention of Japanese-Americans and its impact before,
during, and after, World War II including those Japanese-Americans
who served in the military and those who were interned in Department
of Justice camps.
(d) Applicants for grants pursuant to this section are encouraged
to do each of the following:
(1) Involve former detainees, those excluded from the military
area, and their descendants in the development and implementation of
projects.
(2) Develop a strategy and plan for raising the level of awareness
and understanding among the American public regarding the exclusion
and detention of Japanese-Americans during World War II so that the
causes and circumstances of this and similar events may be
illuminated and understood.
(3) Develop a strategy and plan for reaching the broad,
multicultural population through project activities.
(4) Develop local and regional consortia of organizations and
individuals engaged in similar educational, research, and development
efforts.
(5) Coordinate and collaborate with organizations and individuals
engaging in similar educational, research, and development endeavors
to maximize the effect of grants.
(6) Utilize creative and innovative methods and approaches in the
research, development, and implementation of their projects.
(7) Seek matching funds, in-kind contributions, or other sources
of support to supplement their proposal.
(8) Use a variety of media, including new technology, and the arts
to creatively and strategically appeal to a broad American public
while enhancing and enriching community-based educational efforts.
(9) Include in the grant application scholarly inquiry related to
the variety of experiences and impact of the exclusion and detention
of persons of Japanese ancestry during World War II, as well as its
relationship to the experience of other populations so that the
causes, circumstances, lessons, and contemporary applications of this
and similar events will be illuminated and understood.
(10) Add relevant materials to or catalogue relevant materials in
libraries and other repositories for the creation, publication, and
distribution of bibliographies, curriculum guides, oral histories,
and other resource directories and supporting the continued
development of scholarly work on this subject by making a broad range
of archival, library, and research materials more accessible to the
American public.
(e) The State Librarian may adopt other criteria as it deems
appropriate for its review of grant proposals. In reviewing projects
for funding, scoring shall be based on an evaluation of all
application materials: narratives, attachments, support letters,
supplementary materials, and other materials that may be requested of
applicants.
13020. (a) In the review process, the State Librarian shall
assign the following order of priority to the criteria set forth in
subdivision (c) of Section 13015:
(1) Criteria set forth in paragraphs (1) to (4), inclusive, shall
be given highest priority.
(2) Criteria set forth in paragraphs (5) to (6), inclusive, shall
be given second priority.
(b) The State Librarian shall consider the overall breadth and
variety of the field of applicants to determine the projects that
would best fulfill its program and mission. Final grant awards may
be for the full amount of the grant requests or for a portion of the
grant request.
(c) Applicants for grants pursuant to this section may include any
of the following:
(1) Nonprofit organizations exempt from taxation pursuant to
Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.
(2) Four-year colleges and universities.
(3) Cultural institutions, arts organizations, and community
organizations.
(4) Individual artists, writers, journalists, scholars, and
educators.
(5) Units of government.
(6) Consortia composed of any of the entities described in
paragraphs (1) to (5), inclusive.
(d) Grants allocated pursuant to this section shall be provided
for the general purpose of establishing a legacy of remembrance as
part of a continuing process of recovery from World War II exclusion
and detention and specifically to do one or both of the following:
(1) Educate the public regarding the history and the lessons of
the World War II exclusion, removal, and detention of persons of
Japanese ancestry through the development, coordination, and
distribution of new educational materials and the development of
curriculum materials to complement and augment resources currently
available on this subject matter.
(2) Develop videos, plays, presentations, speaker bureaus, and
exhibitions for presentation to elementary, secondary, and community
college audiences.
13025. On or before January 1, 2001, the State Librarian shall
report to the Governor and the appropriate fiscal and policy
committees of each house of the Legislature on the types of grants
awarded and the accomplishments of the program established pursuant
to this part.
13030. It is the intent of the Legislature that the sum of one
million dollars ($1,000,000) be annually appropriated for three years
from the General Fund to the State Librarian for purposes of this
chapter.
SEC. 2. The sum of one million dollars ($1,000,000) appropriated
by Item 6110-199-0001 of Section 2.0 of the Budget Act of 1998 is
hereby reappropriated to the California State Library for purposes of
the California Civil Liberties Public Education Act contained in
Part 8.5 (commencing with Section 13000) of the Education Code.