1 00:00:01,920 --> 00:00:07,240 Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff production of iHeart Radio. Hey brain Stuff, 2 00:00:07,280 --> 00:00:11,520 Speaker 1: Lauren vog Obam here. It should be an unthinkable scenario, 3 00:00:11,680 --> 00:00:14,680 Speaker 1: but it's happened time and time again. People born in 4 00:00:14,680 --> 00:00:17,680 Speaker 1: the United States are treated as national security threats because 5 00:00:17,720 --> 00:00:22,160 Speaker 1: of their families countries of origin. In late for example, 6 00:00:22,360 --> 00:00:25,480 Speaker 1: the Washington Post reported on the story of Peter Sewan Brown, 7 00:00:25,840 --> 00:00:29,680 Speaker 1: Philadelphia born citizen who says US Immigration and Customs Enforcement 8 00:00:29,840 --> 00:00:33,599 Speaker 1: or ICE, held him for deportation to Jamaica. The same 9 00:00:33,680 --> 00:00:38,400 Speaker 1: article cited Syracuse University study the determined ICE had placed 10 00:00:38,400 --> 00:00:41,720 Speaker 1: detainers on eight hundred and thirty four U S citizens 11 00:00:41,720 --> 00:00:45,800 Speaker 1: over just a four year period. And while ICE related 12 00:00:45,800 --> 00:00:48,559 Speaker 1: incidents have made lots of headlines in our post nine 13 00:00:48,560 --> 00:00:52,920 Speaker 1: eleven society, the issue has occurred throughout our country's history. 14 00:00:53,600 --> 00:00:59,080 Speaker 1: Case in point the incarceration of Mizzier Endo born in Sacramento, California, 15 00:00:59,120 --> 00:01:02,240 Speaker 1: in Endo was one of four children born to her 16 00:01:02,280 --> 00:01:05,959 Speaker 1: parents who were Japanese immigrants. In her early twenties, Endo 17 00:01:06,000 --> 00:01:09,760 Speaker 1: worked as secretary for the state's Department of Employment, but 18 00:01:10,080 --> 00:01:13,360 Speaker 1: life as Japanese Americans knew it changed dramatically. On December 19 00:01:13,400 --> 00:01:17,120 Speaker 1: seventh of nineteen forty one, the day Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. 20 00:01:17,680 --> 00:01:19,880 Speaker 1: Within a few months, the U S had dismissed all 21 00:01:19,959 --> 00:01:24,000 Speaker 1: Japanese American state employees, including Endo. Of the hundreds of 22 00:01:24,000 --> 00:01:28,000 Speaker 1: employees affected, sixty three banded together to challenge the firings. 23 00:01:28,520 --> 00:01:31,720 Speaker 1: Backed by the Japanese American Citizens League, Endo and her 24 00:01:31,760 --> 00:01:35,640 Speaker 1: peers hired attorney James C. Purcell to defend their rights. 25 00:01:36,360 --> 00:01:40,280 Speaker 1: But fighting against the prevailing authoritative rule wasn't easy, and 26 00:01:40,360 --> 00:01:43,839 Speaker 1: as Purcell took on the case, circumstances continued to worsen 27 00:01:43,920 --> 00:01:47,560 Speaker 1: for Japanese Americans. At the order of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, 28 00:01:47,720 --> 00:01:50,360 Speaker 1: more than a hundred and twenty thousand Japanese Americans were 29 00:01:50,400 --> 00:01:54,640 Speaker 1: forcibly relocated and incarcerated. Along with her family, Endo was 30 00:01:54,680 --> 00:01:57,520 Speaker 1: sent first to the Sacramento Assembly Center and then to 31 00:01:57,560 --> 00:02:01,320 Speaker 1: the Tulei Lake, California Internment Camp. We spoke with the 32 00:02:01,400 --> 00:02:05,200 Speaker 1: University of California Berkeley School of Law professor Amanda L. Tyler. 33 00:02:05,800 --> 00:02:09,000 Speaker 1: She's written extensively about Purcell and Endo, both in her 34 00:02:09,040 --> 00:02:12,040 Speaker 1: book Happiest Corpus in Wartime From the Tower of London 35 00:02:12,040 --> 00:02:15,400 Speaker 1: to Guantanamo Bay and in the sixteen op ed for 36 00:02:15,440 --> 00:02:19,280 Speaker 1: the Sacramento b titled Unsung World War Two Hero Deserves 37 00:02:19,320 --> 00:02:23,880 Speaker 1: the Medal of Freedom. Tyler said, ms Endo was summarily 38 00:02:23,960 --> 00:02:27,200 Speaker 1: fired from her job as a California State employee, forced 39 00:02:27,200 --> 00:02:31,000 Speaker 1: to leave her home, sent two different internment camps, eventually 40 00:02:31,040 --> 00:02:34,200 Speaker 1: separated from her parents, and all the while her brother 41 00:02:34,320 --> 00:02:39,040 Speaker 1: was serving in the United States military. Roosevelt's extreme measure 42 00:02:39,280 --> 00:02:42,639 Speaker 1: was Executive Order nine zero six six, a World War 43 00:02:42,680 --> 00:02:46,440 Speaker 1: Two policy that prescribed quote regulations for the conduct and 44 00:02:46,480 --> 00:02:50,840 Speaker 1: control of alien enemies. As Purcell built a case against 45 00:02:50,880 --> 00:02:53,760 Speaker 1: the government's actions, he began searching for a plaintiff to 46 00:02:53,880 --> 00:02:58,480 Speaker 1: challenge the incarceration through a habeas corpus petition dating back 47 00:02:58,520 --> 00:03:01,600 Speaker 1: to twelve fifteen. Abas corpus as a court order that 48 00:03:01,680 --> 00:03:05,360 Speaker 1: empowers individuals and or those representing them to dispute the 49 00:03:05,440 --> 00:03:10,119 Speaker 1: legality of their imprisonment. Purcell decided Endo was an ideal candidate, 50 00:03:10,400 --> 00:03:12,519 Speaker 1: and not only was she a Methodist citizen with a 51 00:03:12,600 --> 00:03:14,600 Speaker 1: brother in the U. S. Army, but should never even 52 00:03:14,720 --> 00:03:18,959 Speaker 1: been to Japan. While she initially hesitated to act as plaintiff, 53 00:03:19,080 --> 00:03:22,200 Speaker 1: Endo eventually agreed and Priscell filed the petition on July 54 00:03:22,240 --> 00:03:28,320 Speaker 1: twelfth in San Francisco Federal District Court. Tyler explained, during 55 00:03:28,320 --> 00:03:30,480 Speaker 1: the course of her case, the government realized that it 56 00:03:30,560 --> 00:03:33,440 Speaker 1: posed a serious challenge to all the policies directed at 57 00:03:33,480 --> 00:03:36,880 Speaker 1: persons of Japanese ancestry that the military instituted under the 58 00:03:36,920 --> 00:03:40,760 Speaker 1: auspices of Executive Order nine zero six six. So the 59 00:03:40,760 --> 00:03:43,360 Speaker 1: government offered her release in order to make her case 60 00:03:43,400 --> 00:03:47,360 Speaker 1: effectively go away. She resisted, in her later words, because 61 00:03:47,480 --> 00:03:50,120 Speaker 1: quote the fact that I wanted to prove that we 62 00:03:50,240 --> 00:03:53,400 Speaker 1: of Japanese ancestry were not guilty of any crime and 63 00:03:53,440 --> 00:03:56,640 Speaker 1: that we were loyal American citizens kept me from abandoning 64 00:03:56,680 --> 00:04:01,360 Speaker 1: the suit. Endo remained in confinement from as her case progressed. 65 00:04:01,720 --> 00:04:04,280 Speaker 1: When it eventually reached the Supreme Court in April of 66 00:04:04,360 --> 00:04:08,240 Speaker 1: nineteen forty four, the court unanimously ruled in favor of Endo, 67 00:04:08,680 --> 00:04:12,160 Speaker 1: stating that quote, the government cannot detain a citizen without 68 00:04:12,240 --> 00:04:15,440 Speaker 1: charge when the government itself concedes she is loyal to 69 00:04:15,440 --> 00:04:19,360 Speaker 1: the United States. While Endo's on wavering commitment to the 70 00:04:19,440 --> 00:04:22,960 Speaker 1: larger cause was certainly central to the eventual outcome, Tyler 71 00:04:23,000 --> 00:04:27,680 Speaker 1: credits Percell for his tireless efforts quote he recognized the 72 00:04:27,760 --> 00:04:31,120 Speaker 1: serious constitutional problems with what the government was doing, and 73 00:04:31,160 --> 00:04:33,320 Speaker 1: he felt compelled to use his skills to give a 74 00:04:33,400 --> 00:04:37,000 Speaker 1: voice to a community that was unfairly targeted and unconstitutionally 75 00:04:37,040 --> 00:04:40,039 Speaker 1: treated during the war. I've heard many survivors of the 76 00:04:40,080 --> 00:04:43,039 Speaker 1: camps refer to Mr Purcell as the man who set 77 00:04:43,080 --> 00:04:46,680 Speaker 1: us free. According to Tyler, the case is left more 78 00:04:46,720 --> 00:04:49,679 Speaker 1: of a cultural legacy than a legal one. She said, 79 00:04:50,080 --> 00:04:52,960 Speaker 1: Endo's case is not so significant for the precedent it's 80 00:04:52,960 --> 00:04:57,240 Speaker 1: set because it was decided very narrowly on non constitutional grounds, 81 00:04:57,640 --> 00:05:00,960 Speaker 1: but it is instead enormously significant. Were being the driving 82 00:05:01,000 --> 00:05:04,160 Speaker 1: force behind the closing of the Japanese American internment camps. 83 00:05:04,720 --> 00:05:07,279 Speaker 1: In the lead up to the decision coming down, President 84 00:05:07,320 --> 00:05:10,520 Speaker 1: Roosevelt had resisted pressure from advisors to close the camps 85 00:05:11,000 --> 00:05:14,720 Speaker 1: after the election, and upon purportedly being tipped off that 86 00:05:14,760 --> 00:05:17,000 Speaker 1: the Supreme Court was going to decide in favor of 87 00:05:17,000 --> 00:05:19,000 Speaker 1: and does claim that she could not be detained in 88 00:05:19,040 --> 00:05:22,760 Speaker 1: the camps as a conceitedly loyal citizen, the administration changed 89 00:05:22,839 --> 00:05:25,440 Speaker 1: course and proclaimed that it would begin closing the camps. 90 00:05:25,839 --> 00:05:28,680 Speaker 1: The day after making that announcement, the Supreme Court handed 91 00:05:28,680 --> 00:05:33,000 Speaker 1: down its decision, and there are larger effects of the 92 00:05:33,040 --> 00:05:37,000 Speaker 1: case that still influence legal proceedings today. Tyler referred to 93 00:05:37,000 --> 00:05:40,200 Speaker 1: the ongoing argument over whether the judiciary branch of government 94 00:05:40,279 --> 00:05:42,839 Speaker 1: of the Supreme Court and other federal courts should yield 95 00:05:42,880 --> 00:05:46,839 Speaker 1: all decisions about national security to the executive branch the president, 96 00:05:46,960 --> 00:05:51,360 Speaker 1: vice president, and cabinet. She said, the larger relevance of 97 00:05:51,400 --> 00:05:54,000 Speaker 1: all the Japanese American cases that went before the Supreme 98 00:05:54,000 --> 00:05:56,599 Speaker 1: Court during World War Two, to my mind, is that 99 00:05:56,640 --> 00:05:59,960 Speaker 1: they show how dangerous deference to the executive in wartime 100 00:06:00,200 --> 00:06:06,599 Speaker 1: can be USA today, op ed. Tyler referred to Japanese 101 00:06:06,600 --> 00:06:10,279 Speaker 1: American internment as a cautionary tale for President Trump's proposed 102 00:06:10,360 --> 00:06:14,360 Speaker 1: travel ban. Quote. This connects to modern day because it 103 00:06:14,400 --> 00:06:16,880 Speaker 1: means that the Court should be hesitant to defer to 104 00:06:16,920 --> 00:06:19,960 Speaker 1: the executive with respect the assertations about the needs of 105 00:06:20,080 --> 00:06:24,559 Speaker 1: national security as a blanket matter. To underscore her point, 106 00:06:24,839 --> 00:06:27,760 Speaker 1: Tyler refers to the Supreme Court's decision last year to 107 00:06:27,839 --> 00:06:30,520 Speaker 1: overturn the nineteen forty four ruling in the case of 108 00:06:30,600 --> 00:06:34,480 Speaker 1: Kurimatsu versus the United States, in which American citizen Fred 109 00:06:34,520 --> 00:06:38,200 Speaker 1: Karmatsu refused to leave the West Coast following President Roosevelt's 110 00:06:38,240 --> 00:06:42,599 Speaker 1: executive order and was subsequently convicted of disobeying a military order. 111 00:06:43,320 --> 00:06:46,919 Speaker 1: While the ruling was technically overruled in dicta A, meaning 112 00:06:46,960 --> 00:06:50,880 Speaker 1: it may hold more symbolic value than actuabal impact, Tyler 113 00:06:50,920 --> 00:06:54,920 Speaker 1: says it's still a meaningful move. She said, had the 114 00:06:54,960 --> 00:06:58,839 Speaker 1: court in Karnamatsu, among other cases, actually asked to see 115 00:06:58,880 --> 00:07:01,839 Speaker 1: a factual basis supporting the need for the policies that 116 00:07:01,880 --> 00:07:04,520 Speaker 1: were put in place by the military under Executive Order 117 00:07:04,600 --> 00:07:07,760 Speaker 1: nine zero six six, the government could not have provided 118 00:07:07,760 --> 00:07:12,360 Speaker 1: any evidence this fact and the court's recent overruling of Kamatsu, 119 00:07:12,520 --> 00:07:16,320 Speaker 1: albeit NDICTA, should give pause to any court inclined to 120 00:07:16,360 --> 00:07:19,240 Speaker 1: take the executive at its word when individual rights are 121 00:07:19,280 --> 00:07:23,000 Speaker 1: at stake. While the US continues to face complex issues 122 00:07:23,000 --> 00:07:28,680 Speaker 1: around national security, immigration, citizenship, and ingrained institutional prejudices, many 123 00:07:28,760 --> 00:07:32,720 Speaker 1: continue to look to Endo and Purcell as trailblazers Following 124 00:07:32,720 --> 00:07:35,000 Speaker 1: the landmark case. Purcell went on to work on a 125 00:07:35,080 --> 00:07:38,800 Speaker 1: number of Japanese immigration lawsuits and practiced law into his eighties, 126 00:07:39,320 --> 00:07:41,960 Speaker 1: and although Endo kept a low profile for the remainder 127 00:07:42,000 --> 00:07:44,560 Speaker 1: of her life, apparently her own daughter didn't know about 128 00:07:44,640 --> 00:07:47,320 Speaker 1: Endo's historic impact until she was in her twenties. She 129 00:07:47,400 --> 00:07:50,040 Speaker 1: continues to be an important figure in the continued fight 130 00:07:50,160 --> 00:07:57,920 Speaker 1: for fair and equal rights. Today's episode was written by 131 00:07:57,920 --> 00:08:00,840 Speaker 1: Michel Konstantinovski and produced by Tyler Clong. For more in 132 00:08:00,840 --> 00:08:02,520 Speaker 1: this and lots of other topics, is it how stuff 133 00:08:02,520 --> 00:08:04,960 Speaker 1: works dot com. Brain Stuff is production of I Heart 134 00:08:05,040 --> 00:08:08,240 Speaker 1: Radio more podcasts, My heart Radio, visit the heart Radio app, 135 00:08:08,280 --> 00:08:10,920 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.