b'C E L E B R I T Y S P O T L I G H T I N T E R V I E W - C O N T I N U E DHow did you come to join and lead Fred Korematsus defenseWhy is this case relevant today? team in the Korematsu v. United States case?The original Korematsu case stood for two propositions: I had handled a number of public interest cases as a young attorneyfirstly, that the government can suspend Constitutional Rights at the Asian Law Caucus, a community and public interest law firmto a distinct group of citizens based on claims of danger to in the Bay Area, some which were high profile. With other colleagues,the national security, and secondly, that the Courts must I also challenged discriminatory governmental decisions in privatedefer to the Presidents Orders without a searching analysis practice. Just before we met Fred Korematsu, we sued Washingtonof those claims or the evidence during times of national State University for failure to establish an Asian American Studiescrises. The cases we reopened proved that such failure of program when the University had created African American, Latinx,the judicial system to conduct an examination or analysis of Native American and Womens Studies programs despite a studentgovernment claims led to a civil rights disaster for Japanese body population in which Asian Americans were the largest minorityAmericans and for America because the governments claims group on campus for many years. We eventually settled the case withwere based on falsified evidence. This abdication of the role an agreement to establish the first Asian American Studies programof the Court erodes the checks-and-balances system and at the University. can jeopardize the democracy we love. We are hearing the In 1982, Peter Irons, a lawyer and professor of political science (howechoes of history in these same claims, unsupported by ironic!) and Aiko Yoshinaga Herzig made a remarkable discovery:evidence, in the Muslim ban cases in which President Trump documents which proved that the government had lied, altered,banned immigration from mostly Muslim majority countries suppressed and destroyed evidence before the UnitedStates Su- based on national security but really based on religious dis-preme Court in 1943 in the cases of Fred Korematsu, Minoru Yasuicrimination. In a challenge to these immigration ban orders, and Gordon Hirabayashi. All three believed that these military ordersthe Supreme Court again refused to scrutinize the evidence unconstitutionally singled out Japanese Americans leading to theiror declared rationale for such a ban and blindly deferred to imprisonment along with 110,000 other Japanese Americans, and allthe President. This approach again weakens our democracy. three lost their Supreme Court appeals in 1943 and 1944. Korematsu and 110,000 Japanese Americans were subject The new evidence Peter and Aiko had discovered contradicted theto grave civil rights violations because our leaders demon-governments World War II claims of disloyalty, espionage and sabo- ized an entire ethnic group with false claims of disloyalty, tage by Japanese Americans which the government had presentedespionage and sabotage. This same dangerous discrimina-as justifications for the military orders. Peter and Aiko also foundtory rhetoric by leaders of this country is now aimed at China memoranda by the governments own attorneys admitting to de- - kung flu and the China virus - but the fallout is the liberate falsehoods and ethical violations in suppressing, alteringincreased violence against Asian Americans in this country. and destroying evidence, which contradicted the governments ownKorematsu and the Japanese American experience teaches assertions in those original cases. Peter was aware of a rarely usedus that when leaders demonize a racial group, our system of writ to reopen the cases and overturn the original convictions basedvalues becomes degraded. Fred Korematsus case and the on massive misconduct and sought attorneys to work on reopeningincarceration of 120,000 Americans of Japanese ancestry is the cases. Minoru Yasui, a national Japanese American leader, hada lesson in the fragility of our democracy, an echo of history heard about our Washington State case and suggested my name towhich resounds today in the dangerous insurrection of the Peter. Peter contacted me and we assembled work teams to reviewCapitol. We need to stop repeating history.the evidence. We were astounded by these smoking guns which proved the misconduct. We agreed to volunteer to work together to reopen the cases.All of the convictions were overturned 40 years after they were affirmed by the Supreme Court. This was the trial that Japanese Americans never had. Right Minami withFred Korematsu.Far right,Press conference todiscuss the first filingof the case. 16 visions Spring 2021 Sumitomo Corporation of Americas'