Founder and Exec. Dir., Fred T. Korematsu Center for Law and Equality, @ucilaw; law prof; civil rights atty; author; he/him.
Irvine, California
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Yesterday, @UCILaw and many community organizations welcomed the Korematsu Center to its new home.
Keynote: @RobBonta
Bonus: I was installed as inaugural holder of Sylvia Mendez Presidential Chair for Civil Rights.
In chair with @sylviafmendez and Karen Korematsu @korematsu.
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Taught my final class @SeattleULaw.
ALT Picture of me in 2008 when I started at SU; picture of me right before teaching my last class at SU in 2024.
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Happy Fred Korematsu Day!
(to those who observe)
Op-ed wasn't accepted, so here it is, edited for twitter:
January 30 is date that several states commemorate Fred Korematsu Day. In CA, this date is known as the Fred Korematsu Day of Civil Liberties and the Constitution.
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I am, today, emotionally wrought.
I'll be posting periodically throughout the day about historical roots of anti-Asian racism in US.
I know that some are deeply familiar with this history. I know that many are not.
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Are you kidding me?
Canceling 3 days before exam, postponed until some date in October???
This is cruel and unfair to test-takers.
It is harmful to the public.
Grant #DiplomaPrivilegeNow.
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I've got an idea - grant diploma privilege now.
Figure out what to do with Aug. MPRE.
Turn full attention to Feb 2021 exam to figure out best licensure mechanism. Unless you believe pandemic will be over by then. If so, I've got a a bridge to sell you . . .
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Honored to be invited to deliver the 26th Annual Derrick Bell Lecture at NYU Law this November.
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Can you tell in 2-3 minutes if someone has minimum qualifications to be an attorney?
I can't.
Why do state bars, state supreme courts, legislatures, and public allow bar examiners to assess essay responses in this way to determine if someone with JD is minimally competent?
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Working now on matter with 4 law grads who took diploma privilege.
Despite not having taken and passed bar exam, they demonstrate skills, motivation, and commitment that will make them excellent attorneys.
Bar exam fails to assess these things. #DiplomaPrivilegeNow 1/2
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I'm giving my students access to a recording of my end-of-semester review of Contracts before we begin our semester.
Good idea? Bad idea?
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Some personal news.
Excited to be joining @UCILaw.
We’re honored to welcome the Fred T. Korematsu Center for Law and Equality (Korematsu Center) and Professor of Law Robert S. Chang (@KorematsuCtr) to UCI Law beginning July 1, 2024.
Learn more: bit.ly/3R7dsBY
ALT Fred T. Korematsu Center for Law and Equality and Robert S. Chang to Join UCI Law
ALT Fred T. Korematsu - The center honors the legacy of civil rights hero Fred Korematsu (pictured left) through legal research, litigation advocacy, and clinical education initiatives that promote racial equity and social justice.
ALT "The Korematsu Center has already established itself as one of the premier race justice centers in the country. Its dedication to advancing justice through research, advocacy and education aligns perfectly with UCI Law’s founding principles. We look forward to supporting the Korematsu Center as it continues honoring the legacy of Fred Korematsu through its important work under Professor Chang’s visionary leadership." - Austen Parrish (UCI Law Dean and Chancellor’s Professor of Law)
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Breaking: Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court rules that life without parole for emerging adults (18, 19, 20 y.o.) violates Art 26, MA Constitution.
State constitutions rock!
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I was asked by a student participating in #seattleprotests if they could put my phone number on their arm.
What has happened to our country when a person has to think about doing that before going out and exercising their first amendment rights?
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I know diploma privilege has yet to gain widespread acceptance, but state supreme courts/bars should think seriously now about DP or very different licensure plan for what would usually Feb 2021 exam.
A repeat of this summer is cruel and harmful to test-takers, bad for public.
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BREAKING: Washington appellate court finds that adultification bias can lead to children of color being punished more harshly.
Slip op: courts.wa.gov/opinions/pdf/D…
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School invites me to interview, full day, senior position, then rejects me by email, now asks me to work for free to talk to students about discrimination against Asian Americans.
I say yes b/c current students shouldn’t pay for school’s prior faults.
Still, doesn’t feel good.
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Thrilled to receive this recognition.
Though given to me as an individual, I regard it as a recognition of the Fred T. Korematsu Center @seattleulaw and all who have contributed to its work, success, and impact.
Here's my "acceptance speech" of thank yous:
Congratulations to Prof Robert Chang @KorematsuCtr, today named the 2022-23 McGoldrick Fellow. This is the most prestigious honor @seattleu bestows on faculty.
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Will @GundersenJudy & @NCBEX please provide examples, redacted please, of communications that you believe raise genuine C&F issues?
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How long have we waited to see something like this?
The 9th Black US Senator speaking to the 1st Black woman nominee to SCOTUS.
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Consider asking the dean of your law school if they believe that each student who graduated last year who did not pass the bar exam lacks the minimum qualifications to be an attorney?
This is the question I posed to BYU dean @professor_smith.
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20 years ago, I almost left law. Fed up. Barely got tenure despite being one of most cited on faculty, even as junior; nearly nuked b/c misdirected student homophobia & student evals.
Ethnic studies dept, senior position. 1 of 2 finalists. Didn’t get it, but no regrets. 1/3
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I received good news today.
I've been reappointed to an endowed professorship that I've held for 6 years. It remains unnamed because the donors don't want to name it after themselves and no name has been settled upon.
B/c not named, I don't include it on my signature block.
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Anyone else notice deafening silence of @TheAALS on what is going on with the bar exam? 1/4
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It’s twitter-ficial!
Wonderful to see Prof. Bob Chang at tonight’s @korematsu Celebration. Very much looking forward to having Bob join @UCILaw and excited for the @KorematsuCtr’s new home. Formal announcement to come soon.
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I turned off track changes and then did a global edit, replacing 2 spaces after periods with 1.
Dear co-counsel: sorry/not sorry.
#TeamOneSpaceAfterPeriods
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If I were a state bar that contracted with @NCBEX to handle C&F, I would reconsider appropriateness of maintaining contract with entity that casually threatens C&F to applicants seeking licensure.
Will @GundersenJudy & @NCBEX please provide examples, redacted please, of communications that you believe raise genuine C&F issues?
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I am grateful to the Korematsu family for believing in me when they granted permission in January 2009 to create a center based at a law school to advance Fred Korematsu's legacy.
I am grateful for their continued faith in me.
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My Juneteenth was consumed calculating race disproportionality rates and ratios for civilians killed by police in Washington state. Also calculated figures for various WA jurisdictions. 1/8
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I don't know how Con Law profs do it.
How do you cover Dred Scott, Civil Rights Cases, Plessy, Brown, and Korematsu in a 75 minute class?
Asking for a friend.
Wondering if that friend should have stuck with Contracts.
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What fresh #barpocalypse hell have we entered?
Enough already. #diplomaprivilege now.
It’s working in Washington. Graduates here are working as licensed attorneys. Serving public. Pursuing livelihoods. And based on best data - not endangering public.
Examinees had every reason to believe desktops would be allowed. The fact that they have been banned, with two days to go before the mock exam submission deadline, is unconscionable.
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I’ve arrived!
What will the next 15 years bring for me and the Korematsu Center in our new home?
Succession planning is baked in, structurally, to build and pass on leadership of the center @UCILaw.
With that in mind, we’re planning the next 50 years.
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Life without parole is a euphemism for a death in prison sentence.
The Korematsu Center has stopped using the euphemism in our advocacy.
Let's all stop using this euphemism.
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LSAC is part of testocracy that started out, historically, to keep out undesirables - Jews, immigrants, POC. I think important to keep in mind as we assess role high stakes standardized tests play, gatekeeping function.
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Fred Korematsu's birthday is January 30, and is honored in several states. Others occasionally recognize it. Others, Michigan and New Jersey, are now considering it.
I'm traveling, so here's an early B-day thread, Fred's legacy.
2017 Google doodle:
google.com/doodles/fred-kore…
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New question for law profs who defend bar exam as necessary to prove minimal competence:
Will you look in eye of each graduate of your school who doesn’t pass bar and say, “I agree with exam results. You lack minimal competence to be an attorney.”
Retweet, tag, as you will.
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Breaking: NC - letter to the governor from law firm demanding that he recognize his authority over NCBLE and to act to prevent harm to test-takers and to prevent public health crisis from this mass gathering. 1/3
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The use of tear gas is outlawed in warfare.
I believe it remains permitted to quell a domestic disturbance.
I litigated the anomalous treatment - not OK to use against enemies but OK against your own - in the George Floyd protests in Seattle.
Wrong in so many dimensions.
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18 days before exam. Test-takers w/insurance coverage lapsing. Licenses/careers delayed. For what? Insistence on a deeply flawed test.
I long for day when I can teach classes oriented to train lawyers free of shadow of exam in current form.
Imagine legal education transformed.
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Some personal news.
This coming year is likely my last year at Seattle University.
2Ls/3Ls: if you want to take a course with me, Asian Americans and the Law this fall; New Directions in Social Justice Advocacy this spring; Con Law 2 for 3Ls, spring. No enrollment limits.
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And law school deans and faculty need to step and say this. Straightforward contracts/torts; straightforward professional responsibility.
Don't leave it to your graduates to do and say what all of you should be doing and saying.
Sorry if I sound like broken record.
It is unethical for bar to force test-takers to sign liability waivers.
It is unethical for attorneys engaged by bar to draft them.
For body that purports to protect the public from unethical lawyers - unconscionable. Ethics complaint?
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One year ago, today, my mother passed away.
I visited where I spread her ashes, which joined the ashes of my brother and father.
Moving means I won't be able to visit them as frequently. But the waters of the world are connected. I'll always be connected.
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Professor Jennifer Chacón was selected Professor of the Year by graduating class @UCLA_Law, and told them: “I hope that you will take this time to remember to hold on to what is soft in you and what is gentle in you – ...
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8/ Based on this newfound evidence, Fred challenged his wartime conviction. He won, and his conviction was overturned in 1984, four decades after the U.S. Supreme Court had upheld it.
For most of us, we would have been done. Not Fred.
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I announced a few weeks ago that the Korematsu Center @seattleulaw was growing. At last, i's dotted and t's crossed - hiring portal is open: looking to hire inaugural Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLC Advocacy Fellow, a 20-month fellowship. 1/2
seattleu.csod.com/ats/career…
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If you are an incoming @RopesGray associate who would like to accept their voluntary 1 year deferral that compensates you to work at a public interest group or nonprofit, please contact me if you're interesting in working at the Korematsu Center @seattleulaw. 1/2
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Korematsu Center @seattleulaw will be growing. We'll be posting soon official announcement with application details - first of 2 20-month Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP Advocacy Fellows.
Thank you @WeilGotshal and to our donor match that made this possible.
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10/ I have the honor of and a responsibility for advancing Fred’s legacy through a center named after him that I founded at Seattle University School of Law. One of our proudest moments came in supporting the legal challenges to various iterations of the Muslim travel ban.
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Diploma privilege is working in WA. I know this from direct experience.
I expect that it going just fine in LA, OR, and UT.
It's time for states to take decisive action instead of holding test-takers hostage to a faulty exam and delaying licensure which harms them and public.
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Glass of wine after spending 45 minutes teaching my 15 year old how to drive.
Looking forward to law school classes starting.
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Pleased to announce that I have received a courtesy appointment in the Department of Asian American Studies @UCIrvine.
Excited to join that vibrant intellectual community on July 1, 2024.
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Hope temporary practice privilege leads directly to licensure instead of having to still take test. HI, I think, 2 year temporary licensure which ends if no bar passage is absolutely wrong way to go.
How, after 2 years of practicing, can you say you still need an exam score?
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If anyone was wondering, I hate Washington's 3 strikes law that results in mandatory death in prison sentences. I especially hate that a "strike" committed by a child counts the same as a "strike" committed by an adult. Hate it.
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He said that each of his graduates, even ones who did not pass, had minimum qualifications.
He then said that the bar exam is not a good measure of minimal competence.
Imagine if deans around country collectively made statements like this. 2/3
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I don't know how law school deans can continue to support the bar exam.
I am sorely disappointed by law school leadership.
And let's not forget that examiners spend only a couple minutes on each essay. I don't know how state bars and high courts can say the exam, graded this way, accurately assesses attorney competence.
Broken record.
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First, I feel so bad for test-takers. Second - MI should grant diploma privilege. Now. Stop delaying people’s lives, careers. Exam does not accomplish its stated goall, assuring minimal competency.
We are hearing reports that Michigan's online bar exam (being administered for real TODAY) has crashed.
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9/ When he saw injustice, he spoke out. He became especially active following 9/11 and the mistreatment of persons who, based on ancestry, were subjected to government surveillance and mistreatment.
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Students in my New Directions in Social Impact Advocacy found a unique way to say goodbye!
Starting my last week of teaching @SeattleULaw.
How do you say goodbye to an institution you've been part of for 16 years?
How does it say goodbye to you?
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Big decision today. Mandatory LWOP for 18-21 year old defendants unconstitutional; must receive individualized sentence.
The Washington Supreme Court issued one opinion this morning: courts.wa.gov/opinions/?fa=o…
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Wow.
Arizona Supreme Court eliminated peremptory challenges of prospective jurors, effective Jan 1 2022, subject to possible changes to voir dire.
H/t @scmgonzalez
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I have been asked by my dean @seattleulawdean to serve on this Task Force. I have agreed to do so.
Happy to report that @WACourts has created the Washington State Bar Licensure Task Force "to assess the efficacy of the Washington state bar exam and related requirements for licensing competent lawyers."
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Honored to be delivering the inaugural Jerome M. Culp Critical Theory Lecture @DukeLaw's Center on Law, Race & Policy on Feb. 1, 2024.
The late Professor Culp was my mentor and occasional co-author.
No pressure.
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11/ What would Fred say about current controversies?
I am certain he would stand with Black Lives Matter activists. He would be horrified by the murders of Michael Brown in Ferguson, MO, Breonna Taylor in Louisville, KY, and George Floyd in Minneapolis, MN.
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Wow.
State bars with Oct. administrations, what say you?
And let's not forget that Feb. 2021 bar exams will likely have same/similar challenges.
If not #DiplomaPrivilegeNow, please consider this. Let's get this group of graduates licensed to practice law.
STATEMENT re California law school deans letter 14sep2020
TaxProf Blog post - taxprof.typepad.com/files/ca…
ABA Journal article - tinyurl.com/abajournal-ca-de…
Extegrity July statement - tinyurl.com/extegrity-july-s…
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Holding in-person bar exams in one week sounds like a great idea!
But not to worry: bar examiners think they’re not liable, variety of clauses. Some even claim absolute immunity. I don’t know if they’ve read their state’s tort claims act. Or brushed up on contracts/torts. 1/2
Last night, we learned of a 5th student who was diagnosed with COVID-19 after taking the @AAMC_MCAT exam at a @PearsonVUE. The student has improved some, but their father (who was also infected) is in the hospital on supplemental Oxygen.
#WaiveTheMCAT
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If I were court/bar afraid to grant emergency DP b/c perception, consumer protection, I would explain to media that UBE doesn't test X state's laws, so to protect public, we are ditching UBE, granting emergency DP AND requiring enhanced/augmented state law CLE/open-book test.
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I wasn't told to keep it a secret. Thrilled to learn yesterday that I will be the recipient of one of @WAStateBar's 2024 APEX Awards - the Justice Charles Z. Smith Excellence in Diversity Award.
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My standard narrative bio includes that I am a graduate of Princeton and Duke.
I've been reflecting, though, whether my inclusion of this detail perpetuates hierarchies based on presumed meritocracy from degrees earned 33 and 29 years ago.
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We structured the professorship so that none of the endowment income or current use funds add to my compensation.
Instead, it all goes toward supporting work of the Korematsu Center by helping to fund 2 co-assistant directors/staff attorneys.
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Big - Washington Supreme Court @WACourts grants diploma privilege! My colleagues @seattleulaw unanimously supported letter to the court in support of this. Proud of advocacy by my dean @seattleulawdean
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The fetishization of Asian women is what drew the killer to his targets.
In a prior thread, I explored historical roots of anti-Asian racism, but did not get to the intersection of gender and race. Here’s my attempt to do this succinctly. 1/
I'm tired of seeing narrative of how killer was customer of two locations as somehow showing race was not factor in targeting without exploring how intersection of race/gender factored in his choice of those locations to patronize, assuming customer narrative holds up.
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It me.
It's the center I founded in 2009 with the approval of the Korematsu family.
15 years @SeattleULaw.
Korematsu Center 2.0 launching, July 1, 2024, @UCILaw.
We're pleased to see the esteemed Fred T. Korematsu Center for Law and Equality and its executive director Robert S. Chang, professor of law take their mission to @UCILaw starting in the summer of 2024. Read more here: tinyurl.com/2u5yfbzu
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This is one way to help change licensure for attorneys.
And it will transform legal education - how we teach and test.
It will transform admissions.
Which offers pathway then to transform our profession. 3/3
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Guessing Nevada will be next to do something like Indiana (same software vendor) - or - why not diploma privilege? Go big or go home.
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In an amicus brief we're going to file on Friday, we rely heavily on research by @DrPhilGoff, adultification of Black children, esp. Black boys, and @GtownLawPovCntr on adultification of Black girls. 1/2
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2/ It is meant to honor his legacy as a civil rights icon and to serve as a reminder of what happens when this country fails to hold true to its commitments to ensure equal justice for all.
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I would not be where I am if not for affirmative action.
I am proud (not ashamed) to have been a beneficiary of affirmative action.
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12/ He would stand with those protesting, and he would laud the role that the Korematsu Center played as its attorneys joined with attorneys at Perkins Coie and ACLU-WA to sue Seattle to stop its police from brutalizing people protesting police violence against Black people.
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The journal wants me to say more in my conclusion.
After the 12,201 words that preceded these 20 words, need more be said?
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It's late, Sunday night. Working on an amicus brief, COVID in prisons.
Probably virtue signaling, posting this.
Whatever. It's late. Tired. Maybe needing to virtue signal.
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3/ For those unfamiliar with his story, Fred was a young man who, during World War II, defied the U.S. government’s orders for him to leave his home and report to a relocation center, a way station where Japanese Americans were gathered before being sent to incarceration camps.
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16/ the placement of Alaska Native foster children in a private psychiatric hospital without adequate judicial oversight, the administration of psychotropic medication to those same children without their consent, and ...
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15/ From this certainty, the Korematsu Center I lead has acted with moral clarity when it opposed the Muslim travel ban, rescission of DACA, the termination of the Mexican American Studies Program in Tucson, Arizona; and, in ongoing litigation, ...
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14/ Likewise, I am certain he would stand with those standing against hate against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, hate against Muslims, and hate against Jews.
I am certain.
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7/ In its refusal to see race discrimination, Court said in essence, “Move along folks, nothing to see here.”
But decades later, researchers discovered that evidence had been withheld from the U.S. Supreme Court.
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19/ I hope more states begin commemorating Fred Korematsu Day.
But even if you live in a state that doesn't, we can still remember and learn from Fred's example.
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Don’t know why I’ve never thought to do this before.
Had a picnic lunch in the middle of the lake.
Thanks Twitterfriends - feeling the love with the birthday wishes.
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21/ Learn more from Lorraine Bannai's award-winning biography of Fred:
Enduring Conviction: Fred Korematsu and His Quest for Justice
uwapress.uw.edu/book/9780295…
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