WEBVTT - How Did a Court Case End Japanese Internment?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff production of iHeart Radio. Hey brain Stuff,

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<v Speaker 1>Lauren vog Obam here. It should be an unthinkable scenario,

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<v Speaker 1>but it's happened time and time again. People born in

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<v Speaker 1>the United States are treated as national security threats because

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<v Speaker 1>of their families countries of origin. In late for example,

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<v Speaker 1>the Washington Post reported on the story of Peter Sewan Brown,

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<v Speaker 1>Philadelphia born citizen who says US Immigration and Customs Enforcement

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<v Speaker 1>or ICE, held him for deportation to Jamaica. The same

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<v Speaker 1>article cited Syracuse University study the determined ICE had placed

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<v Speaker 1>detainers on eight hundred and thirty four U S citizens

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<v Speaker 1>over just a four year period. And while ICE related

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<v Speaker 1>incidents have made lots of headlines in our post nine

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<v Speaker 1>eleven society, the issue has occurred throughout our country's history.

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<v Speaker 1>Case in point the incarceration of Mizzier Endo born in Sacramento, California,

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<v Speaker 1>in Endo was one of four children born to her

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<v Speaker 1>parents who were Japanese immigrants. In her early twenties, Endo

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<v Speaker 1>worked as secretary for the state's Department of Employment, but

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<v Speaker 1>life as Japanese Americans knew it changed dramatically. On December

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<v Speaker 1>seventh of nineteen forty one, the day Japan attacked Pearl Harbor.

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<v Speaker 1>Within a few months, the U S had dismissed all

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<v Speaker 1>Japanese American state employees, including Endo. Of the hundreds of

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<v Speaker 1>employees affected, sixty three banded together to challenge the firings.

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<v Speaker 1>Backed by the Japanese American Citizens League, Endo and her

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<v Speaker 1>peers hired attorney James C. Purcell to defend their rights.

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<v Speaker 1>But fighting against the prevailing authoritative rule wasn't easy, and

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<v Speaker 1>as Purcell took on the case, circumstances continued to worsen

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<v Speaker 1>for Japanese Americans. At the order of President Franklin D. Roosevelt,

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<v Speaker 1>more than a hundred and twenty thousand Japanese Americans were

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<v Speaker 1>forcibly relocated and incarcerated. Along with her family, Endo was

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<v Speaker 1>sent first to the Sacramento Assembly Center and then to

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<v Speaker 1>the Tulei Lake, California Internment Camp. We spoke with the

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<v Speaker 1>University of California Berkeley School of Law professor Amanda L. Tyler.

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<v Speaker 1>She's written extensively about Purcell and Endo, both in her

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<v Speaker 1>book Happiest Corpus in Wartime From the Tower of London

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<v Speaker 1>to Guantanamo Bay and in the sixteen op ed for

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<v Speaker 1>the Sacramento b titled Unsung World War Two Hero Deserves

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<v Speaker 1>the Medal of Freedom. Tyler said, ms Endo was summarily

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<v Speaker 1>fired from her job as a California State employee, forced

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<v Speaker 1>to leave her home, sent two different internment camps, eventually

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<v Speaker 1>separated from her parents, and all the while her brother

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<v Speaker 1>was serving in the United States military. Roosevelt's extreme measure

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<v Speaker 1>was Executive Order nine zero six six, a World War

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<v Speaker 1>Two policy that prescribed quote regulations for the conduct and

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<v Speaker 1>control of alien enemies. As Purcell built a case against

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<v Speaker 1>the government's actions, he began searching for a plaintiff to

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<v Speaker 1>challenge the incarceration through a habeas corpus petition dating back

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<v Speaker 1>to twelve fifteen. Abas corpus as a court order that

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<v Speaker 1>empowers individuals and or those representing them to dispute the

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<v Speaker 1>legality of their imprisonment. Purcell decided Endo was an ideal candidate,

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<v Speaker 1>and not only was she a Methodist citizen with a

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<v Speaker 1>brother in the U. S. Army, but should never even

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<v Speaker 1>been to Japan. While she initially hesitated to act as plaintiff,

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<v Speaker 1>Endo eventually agreed and Priscell filed the petition on July

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<v Speaker 1>twelfth in San Francisco Federal District Court. Tyler explained, during

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<v Speaker 1>the course of her case, the government realized that it

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<v Speaker 1>posed a serious challenge to all the policies directed at

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<v Speaker 1>persons of Japanese ancestry that the military instituted under the

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<v Speaker 1>auspices of Executive Order nine zero six six. So the

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<v Speaker 1>government offered her release in order to make her case

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<v Speaker 1>effectively go away. She resisted, in her later words, because

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<v Speaker 1>quote the fact that I wanted to prove that we

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<v Speaker 1>of Japanese ancestry were not guilty of any crime and

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<v Speaker 1>that we were loyal American citizens kept me from abandoning

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<v Speaker 1>the suit. Endo remained in confinement from as her case progressed.

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<v Speaker 1>When it eventually reached the Supreme Court in April of

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<v Speaker 1>nineteen forty four, the court unanimously ruled in favor of Endo,

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<v Speaker 1>stating that quote, the government cannot detain a citizen without

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<v Speaker 1>charge when the government itself concedes she is loyal to

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<v Speaker 1>the United States. While Endo's on wavering commitment to the

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<v Speaker 1>larger cause was certainly central to the eventual outcome, Tyler

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<v Speaker 1>credits Percell for his tireless efforts quote he recognized the

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<v Speaker 1>serious constitutional problems with what the government was doing, and

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<v Speaker 1>he felt compelled to use his skills to give a

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<v Speaker 1>voice to a community that was unfairly targeted and unconstitutionally

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<v Speaker 1>treated during the war. I've heard many survivors of the

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<v Speaker 1>camps refer to Mr Purcell as the man who set

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<v Speaker 1>us free. According to Tyler, the case is left more

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<v Speaker 1>of a cultural legacy than a legal one. She said,

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<v Speaker 1>Endo's case is not so significant for the precedent it's

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<v Speaker 1>set because it was decided very narrowly on non constitutional grounds,

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<v Speaker 1>but it is instead enormously significant. Were being the driving

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<v Speaker 1>force behind the closing of the Japanese American internment camps.

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<v Speaker 1>In the lead up to the decision coming down, President

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<v Speaker 1>Roosevelt had resisted pressure from advisors to close the camps

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<v Speaker 1>after the election, and upon purportedly being tipped off that

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<v Speaker 1>the Supreme Court was going to decide in favor of

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<v Speaker 1>and does claim that she could not be detained in

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<v Speaker 1>the camps as a conceitedly loyal citizen, the administration changed

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<v Speaker 1>course and proclaimed that it would begin closing the camps.

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<v Speaker 1>The day after making that announcement, the Supreme Court handed

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<v Speaker 1>down its decision, and there are larger effects of the

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<v Speaker 1>case that still influence legal proceedings today. Tyler referred to

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<v Speaker 1>the ongoing argument over whether the judiciary branch of government

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<v Speaker 1>of the Supreme Court and other federal courts should yield

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<v Speaker 1>all decisions about national security to the executive branch the president,

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<v Speaker 1>vice president, and cabinet. She said, the larger relevance of

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<v Speaker 1>all the Japanese American cases that went before the Supreme

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<v Speaker 1>Court during World War Two, to my mind, is that

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<v Speaker 1>they show how dangerous deference to the executive in wartime

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<v Speaker 1>can be USA today, op ed. Tyler referred to Japanese

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<v Speaker 1>American internment as a cautionary tale for President Trump's proposed

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<v Speaker 1>travel ban. Quote. This connects to modern day because it

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<v Speaker 1>means that the Court should be hesitant to defer to

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<v Speaker 1>the executive with respect the assertations about the needs of

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<v Speaker 1>national security as a blanket matter. To underscore her point,

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<v Speaker 1>Tyler refers to the Supreme Court's decision last year to

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<v Speaker 1>overturn the nineteen forty four ruling in the case of

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<v Speaker 1>Kurimatsu versus the United States, in which American citizen Fred

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<v Speaker 1>Karmatsu refused to leave the West Coast following President Roosevelt's

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<v Speaker 1>executive order and was subsequently convicted of disobeying a military order.

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<v Speaker 1>While the ruling was technically overruled in dicta A, meaning

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<v Speaker 1>it may hold more symbolic value than actuabal impact, Tyler

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<v Speaker 1>says it's still a meaningful move. She said, had the

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<v Speaker 1>court in Karnamatsu, among other cases, actually asked to see

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<v Speaker 1>a factual basis supporting the need for the policies that

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<v Speaker 1>were put in place by the military under Executive Order

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<v Speaker 1>nine zero six six, the government could not have provided

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<v Speaker 1>any evidence this fact and the court's recent overruling of Kamatsu,

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<v Speaker 1>albeit NDICTA, should give pause to any court inclined to

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<v Speaker 1>take the executive at its word when individual rights are

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<v Speaker 1>at stake. While the US continues to face complex issues

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<v Speaker 1>around national security, immigration, citizenship, and ingrained institutional prejudices, many

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<v Speaker 1>continue to look to Endo and Purcell as trailblazers Following

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<v Speaker 1>the landmark case. Purcell went on to work on a

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<v Speaker 1>number of Japanese immigration lawsuits and practiced law into his eighties,

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<v Speaker 1>and although Endo kept a low profile for the remainder

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<v Speaker 1>of her life, apparently her own daughter didn't know about

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<v Speaker 1>Endo's historic impact until she was in her twenties. She

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<v Speaker 1>continues to be an important figure in the continued fight

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<v Speaker 1>for fair and equal rights. Today's episode was written by

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<v Speaker 1>Michel Konstantinovski and produced by Tyler Clong. For more in

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<v Speaker 1>this and lots of other topics, is it how stuff

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<v Speaker 1>works dot com. Brain Stuff is production of I Heart

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<v Speaker 1>Radio more podcasts, My heart Radio, visit the heart Radio app,

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