LEGISLATIVE RESOLUTION commemorating the 70th Anniversary of Korematsu
v. United States, the 1944 landmark United States Supreme Court decision
concerning the constitutionality of the internment of Japanese Americans
during World War II

WHEREAS, It is the custom of this Legislative Body to recognize those
milestones and significant events which represent turning points in our
unique history and which are indelibly etched in the saga of our great
Nation; and
WHEREAS, Attendant to such concern, and in full accord with its long-
standing traditions, this Legislative Body commemorates the 70th Anni-
versary of Korematsu v. United States, the 1944 landmark United States
Supreme Court decision concerning the constitutionality of the intern-
ment of Japanese Americans during World War II; and
WHEREAS, In February 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed
Executive Order 9066 which allowed local military commanders to desig-
nate "military areas" as "exclusion zones," from which "any or all
persons may be excluded"; this power was used to declare that all people
of Japanese ancestry were excluded from the entire Pacific coast,
including all of California and much of Oregon, Washington and Arizona,
except for those in internment camps; and
WHEREAS, Based on Executive Order 9066, on May 19, 1942, more than
110,000 Japanese Americans were compelled to move into "War Relocation
Camps," via a series of exclusion orders; the camps were guarded and
barbed-wire-enclosed detention facilities located in desolate areas of
the Southwest; and
WHEREAS, As a result of internment, entire communities were destroyed,
never to reappear; many Japanese Americans' lives were ruined as they
lost their jobs and their property; and
WHEREAS, Fred T. Korematsu was a Japanese American man who decided to
stay in San Leandro, California and knowingly violated Civilian Exclu-
sion Order No. 34 of the United States Army; he was arrested and
convicted; and
WHEREAS, Fred T. Korematsu argued that Executive Order 9066 was uncon-
stitutional and that it violated the Fifth Amendment to the United
States Constitution; although no question was raised as to Korematsu's
loyalty to the United States, the Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the
conviction, and the Supreme Court agreed to hear the case; and
WHEREAS, In a 6-3 decision, the Supreme Court upheld the constitution-
ality of the exclusion orders; the opinion, written by Supreme Court
Justice Hugo Black, held that the need to protect against espionage
outweighed Fred Korematsu's individual rights, and the rights of Ameri-
cans of Japanese descent; and
WHEREAS, Fred T. Korematsu's conviction for evading internment was
overturned on November 10, 1983, after Korematsu challenged the earlier
decision, in a ruling by Judge Marilyn Hall Patel, of the United States
District Court for the Northern District of California, based on the
finding that government had knowingly submitted false information to the
Supreme Court that had a material effect on the Supreme Court's deci-
sion; and
WHEREAS, The Korematsu decision has not been explicitly overturned,
although in 2011 the Department of Justice filed official notice,
conceding that it was in error, and thus erasing the case's value as
precedent for interning United States citizens; however, the Court's
opinion remains significant both for being the first instance of the
Supreme Court applying the strict scrutiny standard to racial discrimi-

nation by the government and for being one of only a handful of cases in
which the Court held that the government met that standard; and
WHEREAS, In 1998, Fred T. Korematsu was awarded the Presidential Medal
of Freedom; and
WHEREAS, In the course of history, certain events exemplify the imper-
ative of the human spirit to stand up to oppression; it is incumbent
that we remember such events, and honor those courageous individuals who
fought for justice; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That this Legislative Body pause in its deliberations to
commemorate the 70th Anniversary of Korematsu v. United States, the 1944
landmark United States Supreme Court decision concerning the constitu-
tionality of the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II,
and to pay tribute to Fred T. Korematsu; and be it further
RESOLVED, That copies of this Resolution, suitably engrossed, be tran-
smitted to the Fred T. Korematsu Institute for Civil Rights and Educa-
tion, the Japanese American Association of New York, and the Japan Soci-
ety.