Enduring Conviction by Lorraine K. Bannai

Author:Lorraine K. Bannai [Bannai, Lorraine K.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: History, War
ISBN: 9780295806297
Google: 55eJCgAAQBAJ
Barnesnoble:
Goodreads: 26595819
Publisher: University of Washington Press
Published: 2015-11-02T00:00:00+00:00

FIGURE 9.1. The petition for writ of error coram nobis filed in Korematsu v. United States, signed by Fred, Gordon Hirabayashi, Minoru Yasui, and members of their legal teams on the day it was filed, January 31, 1983.

The clerk punched the docket number into a computer and announced to the team that it had drawn Judge Marilyn Hall Patel. Ecstatic, but not wanting to explode with jubilation in the formal environment of the clerk’s office, the team smiled, left, and started the high fives in the elevator. Judge Patel was one of the best judges that they could have drawn. Peter explained, “She’d worked for the National Organization for Women doing legal work for them. She’d been appointed by President Jimmy Carter. She was known as a supporter of civil liberties. Her husband was East Indian by ancestry. She had a lot of experience with racial and ethnic minorities. And we just felt that she would be a really good judge for this case.”42 Patel, the team believed, would understand the injustice wrought upon Fred and the rest of the Japanese American community during World War II.

After filing Fred’s papers, the team rushed to the San Francisco Press Club. Don had called a press conference to announce the reopening of Fred’s historic World War II case and the proof of governmental misconduct upon which it was based. No one knew if any of the press would attend. No one knew if any would be interested. The team walked into a room packed with reporters and cameras, all jockeying for position. Forty members of the press signed in, representing the wire services, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Baltimore Sun, Christian Science Monitor, San Francisco Examiner, USA Today, other local and Asian American papers, and local television and radio stations. And all three major networks—NBC, ABC, and CBS—showed up.43

Fred was not well. Right after Christmas, he had gone to the hospital with bleeding ulcers; he was having trouble swallowing, and he was dehydrated. On New Year’s Day, he had surgery to remove a third of his stomach. When Dale, Peter, and Akira had visited Fred in the hospital shortly before his petition was to be filed, Fred didn’t look good. They asked Fred if it was okay to file and told him not to jeopardize his health, but Fred said to go ahead.44 He had waited for this for so long. He had to be present. At the press conference, Fred, appearing frail and weak, sat flanked by Gordon and Min before the roomful of reporters and what seemed to be a sea of cameras. Dale spoke of the import of the day:

We are filing these petitions for Writ of Error Coram Nobis to reopen cases decided by the Supreme Court [in] landmark cases in 1943 and 1944. The cases upheld the convictions of Min Yasui, Gordon Hirabayashi, and Fred Korematsu. They … validated the evacuation and curfew orders which led to the imprisonment of 110,000 Japanese Americans during World War II.

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