Bill Text: CA AB1775 | 2009-2010 | Regular Session | Amended

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Public schools: Fred Korematsu Day of Civil Liberties

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 9-0)

Status: (Passed) 2010-09-24 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 241, Statutes of 2010. [AB1775 Detail]

Download: California-2009-AB1775-Amended.html

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BILL NUMBER: AB 1775	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  APRIL 5, 2010

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Furutani
    (   Coauthors:   Assembly Members 
 Block   and Hayashi   ) 

                        FEBRUARY 9, 2010

   An act to amend Section  33120   37222 
of the Education Code,  and to add Section 6722 to the Government
Code,   relating to public  education  
schools  .


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 1775, as amended, Furutani. Public  education: Director
of Education.  schools: Fred Korematsu Day of Civil
Liberties and the Constitution.  
   Existing law requires the Governor to proclaim certain days each
year for specified reasons. Existing law also designates particular
days each year as having special significance in public schools and
educational institutions and encourages those entities to conduct
suitable commemorative exercises on those dates.  
   This bill would require the Governor annually to proclaim April 19
as Fred Korematsu Day of Civil Liberties and the Constitution, would
designate that date of each year as having special significance in
public schools and educational institutions, and would encourage
those entities to observe that date by conducting exercises
remembering the life of Fred Korematsu and recognizing the importance
of preserving civil liberties.  
   Existing law provides that the State Department of Education is
conducted under the control of an executive officer known as the
Director of Education. Existing law provides that the Superintendent
of Public Instruction is ex officio Director of Education. Existing
law authorizes the Director of Education to conduct experimental work
in education through various media, including radio and television.
 
   This bill would provide that the permissible media for purposes of
that authority also includes the Internet. 
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

   SECTION 1.    (a) It is the intent of the Legislature
in enacting this act to do all of the following:  
   (1) Declare April 19 the Fred Korematsu Day of Civil Liberties and
the Constitution.  
   (2) Emphasize the constitutional rights afforded to all Americans
regardless of race or ancestry, particularly the rights to due
process and life, liberty, and property that are guaranteed by the
Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments.  
   (3) Uphold the civil liberties of all citizens that are granted by
the United States and California Constitutions, especially in times
of real or perceived crisis.  
   (b) The Legislature finds and declares all of the following: 

   (1) During World War II, Fred Korematsu was arrested and convicted
for remaining in California at a time when persons of Japanese
ancestry, including United States citizens, were ordered to live in
concentration camps. Four decades later, Korematsu's wrongful
conviction was overturned by Judge Marilyn Hall Patel of the United
States District Court. In granting Mr. Korematsu's petition for writ
of error coram nobis, Judge Patel acknowledged in her decision that a
"grave injustice was done to 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." Judge Patel further stated,
"Korematsu stands as a caution that in times of distress the shield
of military necessity and national security must not be used to
protect governmental actions from close scrutiny and accountability.
It stands as a caution that in times of international hostility and
antagonisms our institutions, legislative, executive, and judicial,
must be prepared to exercise their authority to protect all citizens
from the petty fears and prejudices that are so easily aroused."
 
   (2) Fred Korematsu's lifelong pursuit of justice on his own behalf
and for countless others is uniquely symbolic of the founding ideals
and traditions of our State and Nation. He remained a tireless
advocate for, and is an enduring symbol of, every American's right to
liberty, due process, and equality without regard to race,
ethnicity, or national origin.  
   (3) In 1942, Gordon Hirabayashi and Minoru Yasui also defied the
curfew and exclusion regulations imposed on United States residents
of Japanese ancestry. Hirabayashi and Yasui were also wrongfully
convicted. And as with Fred Korematsu, they too were denied justice
by the United States Supreme Court in 1943.  
   (4) The Fifth Amendment and the Fourteenth Amendment of our United
States Constitution both guarantee a right to due process. These
rights were violated when Americans of Japanese ancestry were denied
the fundamental rights to notice of any criminal charges, the right
to attorneys, and the right to a trial. Korematsu, Hirabayashi, and
Yasui each took a principled stand at great personal sacrifice in
protesting government sanctioned discrimination based on racial
heritage and ancestry.  
   (5) Fred Korematsu was born in Oakland, California, on January 30,
1919, to Japanese immigrant parents. Upon graduation from Castlemont
High School in 1938, Fred Korematsu wanted to serve his country in
the military and attempted to enlist in the United States Coast
Guard, but was rejected because his Selective Service classification
had been changed to "Enemy Alien," even though he was a citizen of
the United States.  
   (6) Fred Korematsu attended the Master School of Welding and
worked at the docks in Oakland as a shipyard welder, quickly rising
through the ranks to foreman until his union barred all people of
Japanese ancestry and his employment was terminated. When World War
II broke out, Fred Korematsu suffered from acts of discrimination, as
he was turned away from restaurants and barber shops, and denied the
right to work, travel, and ultimately to reside in his native State
of California.  
   (7) In 1942, Fred Korematsu refused to comply with Civilian
Exclusion Order No. 34 which was authorized by President Franklin D.
Roosevelt's Executive Order No. 9066. It imposed strict curfew
regulations and required over 100,000 Americans of Japanese ancestry
to leave their homes on the West Coast and submit to imprisonment
based solely on their ancestry. Rather than reporting to the assembly
center with the rest of his family, Fred Korematsu chose to defy the
order and decided to carry on his life as an American citizen and a
citizen of the State of California.  
   (8) Fred Korematsu was arrested on May 30, 1942, and charged with
violating the military's exclusion order. After spending two and
one-half months in a San Francisco prison, the Executive Director of
the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California, Ernest
Besig, posted bail and offered to defend him. Fred Korematsu was
tried and convicted by a federal court and taken by military
authorities to the Tanforan concentration camp, where he lived in
squalor. Believing the discriminatory conviction went against
freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution, Fred Korematsu appealed his
case. Though the appeal went up to the United States Supreme Court in
1944, justice was denied to Fred Korematsu when the Supreme Court
upheld the conviction by a six to three vote, leaving him devastated
and wondering what effect this would have on other Americans. 

   (9) Thousands of Japanese American soldiers fought in Europe and
the Pacific during World War II and served with indomitable spirit
and valor including those in the 442nd Infantry, the 522nd Field
Artillery Battalion, the Military Intelligence Service, the 232nd
Combat Engineer Company, and the 1399th Engineer Construction
Battalion. The 442nd Infantry of the United States Army was a combat
team composed primarily of Japanese American soldiers who fought in
Europe. Some members of the 442nd were recruited directly from the
concentration camps, and many others had relatives that were
incarcerated in the camps. The 442nd Regimental Combat Team became
the most decorated unit in United States military history for its
size and length of service, receiving seven Presidential Unit
Citations, 21 Medals of Honor, 29 Distinguished Service Crosses, 560
Silver Stars, 4,000 Bronze Stars, and numerous additional
distinctions.  
   (10) Following World War II and the release of Japanese Americans
from the concentration camps, Fred Korematsu attempted to resume life
as an American citizen, marrying his wife Kathryn and raising two
children, Karen and Ken. He maintained his innocence through the
years but the conviction had a lasting impact on Fred Korematsu's
basic rights, affecting his ability to vote and obtain employment.
 
   (11) In January of 1982, with newly discovered evidence found by
Peter Irons, a wartime historian and attorney, and Aiko
Yoshinaga-Herzig, a researcher, Fred Korematsu made the decision to
reopen his 1944 conviction by petitioning for a writ of error coram
nobis to have the wrongful conviction vacated. The task of retrying a
legal case based on events 40 years past was complicated and novel,
but a legal team composed mostly of Sansei third generation Japanese
Americans was determined to undo the injustice perpetrated on Fred
Korematsu and their own family members who were imprisoned along with
Korematsu. Similarly, Minoru Yasui and Gordon Hirabayashi also
petitioned for writs of error coram nobis in Oregon and Washington.
Fred Korematsu's attorneys worked closely with the legal teams
assembled for the Minoru Yasui and Gordon Hirabayashi cases. These
teams were also composed primarily of Sansei, and together the
attorneys for the three cases developed the legal strategies that
would prove successful in defending the civil rights of Fred
Korematsu, Minoru Yasui, Gordon Hirabayashi, and all Americans. 

   (12) The writ of error coram nobis has been extremely limited in
application but has been used by courts once an individual has been
convicted and released in order to correct a court's fundamental
error or to reverse a manifest injustice. For Fred Korematsu, the
fundamental errors at the Supreme Court level were the suppression,
alteration, and destruction of evidence by United States government
officials that Japanese Americans were not disloyal nor were
predisposed to espionage and sabotage, as had been argued by the
government in the Korematsu, Hirabayashi, and Yasui cases, and that
no facts warranted the issuance of the military orders and Executive
Order No. 9066. Thus, Fred Korematsu's lawyers argued that a fraud on
the Supreme Court had been committed, resulting in Fred Korematsu's
conviction.  
   (13) After litigating for over one year in the United States
District Court for the Northern District of California, Fred
Korematsu and his legal team emerged triumphant on November 10, 1983,
when Judge Marilyn Hall Patel announced from the bench her decision
granting the petition for the writ of error coram nobis to overturn
Fred Korematsu's conviction. The written decision was published on
April 19, 1984.  
   (14) The decision by Judge Patel influenced petitions for writ of
error coram nobis in the United States District Courts of Oregon and
Washington, where Minoru Yasui and Gordon K. Hirabayashi successfully
filed to have their wrongful convictions vacated. The coram nobis
decisions in these cases impaired the precedent of the original
Supreme Court cases which validated the curfew and exclusion orders.
In addition, the decisions influenced Congress' passage of the Civil
Liberties Act of 1988.  
   (15) The Civil Liberties Act of 1988 was signed into law by
President Ronald Reagan and recognized the grave injustice that was
done to United States residents and citizens of Japanese ancestry by
the forced relocation and incarceration of civilians during World War
II. Congress acknowledged that the incarceration of these Japanese
Americans occurred because of racial prejudice, wartime hysteria, and
a failure of political leadership. The apology extended on behalf of
the United States was also intended to make more credible and to be
consistent with any expressions of concern by the United States over
violations of human rights committed by other nations.  
   (16) In January 1998, Fred Korematsu was awarded the Presidential
Medal of Freedom. The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the highest
honor bestowed upon a civilian who has made a particularly
meritorious contribution to the nation's interests. That same year,
Fred Korematsu also received the California Senate Medal.  
   (17) Fred Korematsu continued his efforts to ensure that Americans
do not forget the lessons learned from our own history as he
traveled across the country, speaking at various colleges, law
schools, and functions. He received honorary doctorates from the
University of San Francisco, California State University at Hayward,
McGeorge School of Law, and the City University of New York Law
School. Fred Korematsu shared his story and encouraged others to
speak up when faced with injustice.  
   (18) Fred Korematsu's life was the basis for the Emmy winning 2002
Public Broadcasting Service documentary "Of Civil Wrongs and Rights:
The Fred Korematsu Story," coproduced by Eric Paul Fournier and Fred
Korematsu's son, Ken Korematsu. The coram nobis cases were also the
subject of an Oscar nominated film, "Unfinished Business" produced by
Steven Okazaki. Fred Korematsu's daughter, Karen Korematsu-Haigh,
helped found the Korematsu Civil Rights Fund sponsored by the Bay
Area Asian Law Caucus.  
   (19) A true civil liberties hero was lost on March 30, 2005, when
Fred Korematsu passed away at 86 years of age due to respiratory
illness in Larkspur, California, leaving behind a lasting influence
on the importance of maintaining the constitutionally mandated
guarantee of liberty for all Americans.  
   (20) On April 18, 2008, Seattle University School of Law opened
the "Fred T. Korematsu Center for Law and Equality."  
   (21) On April 30, 2009, the Asian Law Caucus officially launched
the Fred T. Korematsu Institute for Civil Rights and Education. 

   (22) On December 15, 2009, the San Leandro School Board in a
unanimous decision named the new 9th grade campus, "San Leandro High
School, Fred Korematsu Campus."  
   (23) Fred Korematsu's life and his willingness to assert that our
civil liberties are the hallmark of our great country have left an
indelible mark on the history of our nation and holds a special
meaning for the people of California. 
   SEC. 2.    Section 37222 of the   Education
Code   is amended to read: 
   37222.  (a) The following days in each year are designated and set
apart as days having special significance:
   (1) The second Wednesday in May as the Day of the Teacher.
   (2) April 21 of each year as John Muir Day.
   (3) April 6 of each year as California Poppy Day.
   (4) May 22 of each year as Harvey Milk Day. 
   (5) April 19 of each year as Fred Korematsu Day of Civil Liberties
and the Constitution. 
   (b) On each of the days designated in subdivision (a), all public
schools and educational institutions are encouraged to observe those
days and to conduct suitable commemorative exercises as follows:
   (1) On the Day of the Teacher, exercises commemorating and
directing attention to teachers and the teaching profession.
   (2) On John Muir Day, exercises stressing the importance that an
ecologically sound natural environment plays in the quality of life
for all of us, and emphasizing John Muir's significant contributions
to the fostering of that awareness and the indelible mark he left on
the State of California.
   (3) On California Poppy Day, exercises honoring the California
Poppy, including instruction about native plants, particularly the
California Poppy, and the economic and aesthetic value of
wildflowers; promoting responsible behavior toward our natural
resources and a spirit of protection toward them; and emphasizing the
value of natural resources and conservation of natural resources.
   (4) On Harvey Milk Day, exercises remembering the life of Harvey
Milk, recognizing his accomplishments, and familiarizing pupils with
the contributions he made to this state. 
   (5) On Fred Korematsu Day of Civil Liberties and the Constitution,
exercises remembering the life of Fred Korematsu and recognizing the
importance of preserving civil liberties, even in times of real or
perceived crisis. 
   (c) It is the intent of the Legislature that the exercises
encouraged in this section be integrated into the regular school
program, and be conducted by the school or institution within the
amount otherwise budgeted for educational programs.
   SEC. 3.    Section 6722 is added to the  
Government Code   , to read:  
   6722.  The Governor annually shall proclaim April 19 as Fred
Korematsu Day of Civil Liberties and the Constitution.  

  SECTION 1.    Section 33120 of the Education Code
is amended to read:
   33120.  The Director of Education may conduct experimental work in
education through various media, including radio, television, and
the Internet.