SAN FRANCISCO -- A federal judge has ruled the internment of more than 100,000 Japanese-Americans during World War II was illegal, throwing out the 40-year-old conviction of a man who refused to report to a camp.
'I still remember 40 years ago when I was handcuffed and convicted as a criminal here in San Francisco,' Fred Korematsu, 64, San Leandro, Calif., told the packed courtroom Thursday.
'As an American citizen being put through this shame and embarrassment, as for all those Japanese-Americans who were interned and suffered the same embarrassment, we can never forget this incident as long as we live.'
U.S. District Judge Marilyn Hall Patel ruled the internment of Japanese-Americans was illegal and dropped charges against Korematsu.
'The Korematsu conviction stands for very little, if anything, in the way of precedent,' the judge said in removing the conviction. 'Let it stand instead, as a caution that unyielding vigilance be taken in protecting all U.S. citizens in times of war.
'In times of distress, the shield of military protection should not be used as a vehicle for abuse of our citizens.'
On Oct. 4, the government agreed to overturn Korematsu's conviction and dismiss the indictment against him without confessing any wrongdoing. But Korematsu demanded his right to have his day in court.
Shortly after Japan attacked Pearl Harbor in 1941, the government rounded up Japanese-Americans and held them in internment camps.
'The government said being an American citizen was not enough. You had to look like an American citizen,' attorney Dale Minami argued for Korematsu. 'I would like to see the government correct this wrong so that this never can happen again.'
Similar suits brought in Seattle by University of Alberta professor Gordon Hirabayashi and Minoru Yasui in Portland, Ore., are pending in federal courts.
