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1 | AN ACT concerning government.
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2 | WHEREAS, An assault on civil liberties was launched on | |||||||||||||||||||
3 | February 19, 1942 when President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed | |||||||||||||||||||
4 | Executive Order No. 9066, authorizing the internment of all | |||||||||||||||||||
5 | people of Japanese descent in the United States; under the | |||||||||||||||||||
6 | order, those of Japanese ancestry, many American citizens, were | |||||||||||||||||||
7 | subject to a curfew and ordered to submit to imprisonment and | |||||||||||||||||||
8 | placed in American internment camps without trial, access to | |||||||||||||||||||
9 | legal counsel, or notice of any criminal charges; and
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10 | WHEREAS, Fred T. Korematsu of Oakland, California, | |||||||||||||||||||
11 | valiantly refused to comply with these directives in an | |||||||||||||||||||
12 | admirable display of civil disobedience and continued to | |||||||||||||||||||
13 | proudly live his life as a free American citizen; Fred | |||||||||||||||||||
14 | Korematsu was subsequently arrested and tried for refusing to | |||||||||||||||||||
15 | comply with Civilian Exclusion Order No. 34, which was | |||||||||||||||||||
16 | authorized by Executive Order No. 9066, and sent to Topaz | |||||||||||||||||||
17 | internment camp in Utah; and
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18 | WHEREAS, Fred Korematsu, in a selfless act of sacrifices, | |||||||||||||||||||
19 | agreed to be the representative for those wrongfully | |||||||||||||||||||
20 | imprisoned, and appealed his case with the help of Earnest | |||||||||||||||||||
21 | Besig of the American Civil Liberties Union; the case was heard | |||||||||||||||||||
22 | by the United States Supreme Court; and
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23 | WHEREAS, The Supreme Court upheld the decision to imprison |
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1 | Fred Korematsu in a 6-3 ruling, as well as the | ||||||
2 | constitutionality of discrimination against a racial group as | ||||||
3 | justified under conditions of war; that decision remains a | ||||||
4 | scourge upon civil liberties and American values of equal | ||||||
5 | protection; the conviction of Fred Korematsu was overturned via | ||||||
6 | a writ of error corum nobis on November 10, 1983 by the United | ||||||
7 | States District Court of Northern California; the Supreme Court | ||||||
8 | decision has yet to be challenged; and
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9 | WHEREAS, Fred Korematsu and his legal team appealed to | ||||||
10 | overturn his conviction, inspiring the Civil Liberties Act of | ||||||
11 | 1988, which was signed into law by President Ronald Reagan, | ||||||
12 | which formally apologized to those wrongfully incarcerated | ||||||
13 | under Executive Order No. 9066, and acknowledged the order was | ||||||
14 | issued because of "racial prejudice, wartime hysteria, and a | ||||||
15 | failure of political leadership"; Fred Korematsu was later | ||||||
16 | awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Bill | ||||||
17 | Clinton, the highest honor awarded to a civilian who has | ||||||
18 | admirably served the interests of the Nation; and
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19 | WHEREAS, Fred Korematsu continued throughout his life to | ||||||
20 | raise his voice for the voiceless and defend the defenseless in | ||||||
21 | solidarity with those denied civil liberties, including | ||||||
22 | speaking out against the solitary confinement of an American | ||||||
23 | Muslim man in a United States military prison without trial; | ||||||
24 | and
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1 | WHEREAS, Fred Korematsu passed away on March 30, 2005; | ||||||
2 | today, the Fred Korematsu Institute works to educate people | ||||||
3 | about his life story and the importance of civil liberties; the | ||||||
4 | institute also aims to promote awareness by schools, the | ||||||
5 | general public, and state and federal legislators of Fred | ||||||
6 | Korematsu by observing his birthdate, January 30, as Fred T. | ||||||
7 | Korematsu Day of Civil Liberties and the Constitution; | ||||||
8 | therefore
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9 | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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10 | represented in the General Assembly:
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11 | Section 5. The State Commemorative Dates Act is amended by | ||||||
12 | adding Section 69 as follows:
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13 | (5 ILCS 490/69 new) | ||||||
14 | Sec. 69. Fred T. Korematsu Day. January 30 of each year is | ||||||
15 | designated as Fred T. Korematsu Day, to be observed throughout | ||||||
16 | the State as a day in honor of the man and his courageous fight | ||||||
17 | and efforts for civil liberties, and to encourage schools and | ||||||
18 | institutes of higher learning in this State to incorporate the | ||||||
19 | story of Fred Korematsu and his valiant stand for American | ||||||
20 | values of justice into their curricula.
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21 | Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon |
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1 | becoming law.
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