Lorraine K. Bannai

This is the story of the man behind the infamous Korematsu case, in which the US Supreme Court upheld the internment of Japanese-American CITIZENS during World War II. Citizens who were born here, who spoke little or no Japanese and had no ties to Japan, who had never been suspected (let alone tried or convicted) of anti-American activity -- we ordered them to leave their homes and report to concentration camps in other states. Fred Korematsu refused to go, because he was in love and didn't want to leave his girl behind.

Painstakingly footnoted, this is an academic text with a heartbreaking personal story as a backdrop and a compelling legal drama in the foreground. So much of this seems incredibly timely in the context of 45's executive orders on Muslim immigration and the like -- it's hard to believe this book predates recent events.

As a side note, I am a lawyer myself and was very aware of the Korematsu case. It's taught in most if not all law schools, and is frequently mentioned in the same breath with the Dred Scott (fugitive slaves) and Plessy (separate but equal) cases as examples where the Supreme Court originally "got it wrong". But I was ignorant of the details of the subsequent coram nobis petition in the early 1980s. I vaguely knew that Korematsu had gotten his conviction overturned, but I hadn't realized it was so much later, and I DEFINITELY did not know that there was evidence that the federal government (including the Solicitor General) actively suppressed (and possibly helped alter) evidence before the Supreme Court about the alleged "military necessity" of the executive orders at issue. This is not just a lesson about the dangers of racism and an ugly mistake in our history; it's also a dramatic reminder of what can happen when lawyers don't uphold their strict ethical obligations.

Highly recommended not only for lawyers and those interested in legal history, but for anyone who cares about Constitutional rights and fears their erosion.

Thank you to [a:Lorraine K Bannai|14358720|Lorraine K Bannai|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] for providing a review copy of this book.… (lisätietoja)