“In 1944, in Detroit, I received a letter from Mr. Besig and he told me that we lost in the Supreme Court. And I just couldn’t believe it…I thought [for] sure that we won because it was unconstitutional what they did to the Japanese Americans, putting them in concentration camps…When I found out that I lost my decision, I thought I lost my country.” – Fred T. Korematsu

 This year we celebrate 15 years of the Fred T. Korematsu Institute and also honor the 80th anniversary of the Korematsu v. United States case on December 18, 1944. Often cited, the landmark decision by the Supreme Court upheld the incarceration of 125,000 Japanese Americans from the West Coast during WWII. 

Woven together with Fred’s story and the importance and the historical impact of his court case, are the broader issues such as the right to due process in the Fifth Amendment, the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, and the civil liberties guaranteed to every American citizen. All issues that are present in our contemporary life as the Alien Rights Act and the denaturalization of citizens topics are discussed in courtrooms and on the news. 

You can learn more about the Korematsu v. United States case in the C-SPAN episode of “Landmark Cases” featuring KI’s Founder and President, Dr. Karen Korematsu, and lawyer Peter Irons here: WATCH

In honor of the 80th anniversary of the case, KI will debut, “Error Before Us: The Coram Nobis Cases,” a documentary produced by the Korematsu Institute in honor of the 40^th anniversary of the coram nobis cases. Directed by Emmy-award winning director, Eric Fournier, the film shows us the fight for can teach us about the Constitution, civil liberties, citizenship, and what it means to be an American.

Watch the documentary here:
Error Before Us: The Coram Nobis Cases Movie