HJ0005 104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HJ0005 LRB104 11824 MST 21914 r

HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The people of Illinois seek to uphold the values that make the United States and the State of Illinois great, those of freedom, opportunity, equal justice under law for all, and all civil liberties enshrined in the United States and Illinois Constitutions; and

WHEREAS, Anti-immigrant sentiment and anti-immigrant extremism have factored into discrimination against Asian Americans and other marginalized people throughout our history and caused real harm to individuals and communities; and

WHEREAS, The people and the State of Illinois have a duty to uphold our founding values and actively work to learn from our history and prevent the mistakes and tragedies of our past, including the unconstitutional use of executive orders to deny the guaranteed rights of citizenship; and

WHEREAS, It is most appropriate and necessary to commemorate those incredible individuals who have defended civil liberties and resisted oppression within our great nation; and

WHEREAS, An assault on civil liberties was launched on February 19, 1942 when President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order No. 9066, authorizing the internment of all people of Japanese descent in the United States; under the order, those of Japanese ancestry, many American citizens, were subject to a curfew, ordered to submit to imprisonment, and placed in American internment camps without trial, access to legal counsel, or notice of any criminal charges; and

WHEREAS, Fred T. Korematsu of Oakland, California valiantly refused to comply with these directives in an admirable display of civil disobedience and continued to proudly live his life as a free American citizen; he was subsequently arrested and tried for refusing to comply with Civilian Exclusion Order No. 34, which was authorized by Executive Order No. 9066, and he was sent to Topaz internment camp in Utah; and

WHEREAS, Fred Korematsu, in a selfless act of sacrifice, agreed to be the representative for those wrongfully imprisoned and appealed his case with the help of Earnest Besig of the American Civil Liberties Union; the case was heard by the United States Supreme Court; and

WHEREAS, The Supreme Court upheld the decision to imprison Fred Korematsu in a 6-3 ruling, as well as the constitutionality of discrimination against a racial group as justified under conditions of war; that decision remains a stain upon civil liberties and American values of equal protection under law; his conviction was overturned via a writ of error coram nobis on November 10, 1983 by the United States District Court of Northern California; the Supreme Court decision has yet to be challenged; and

WHEREAS, Fred Korematsu and his legal team appealed to overturn his conviction, inspiring the Civil Liberties Act of 1988, which was signed into law by President Ronald Reagan and which formally apologized to those wrongfully incarcerated under Executive Order No. 9066 and acknowledged the order was issued because of "racial prejudice, wartime hysteria, and a failure of political leadership"; he was later awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Bill Clinton, the highest honor awarded to a civilian who has admirably served the interests of the nation; and

WHEREAS, Fred Korematsu continued throughout his life to raise his voice for the voiceless and defend the defenseless in solidarity with those denied civil liberties, including speaking out against the solitary confinement of an American Muslim man in a United States military prison without trial; and

WHEREAS, Fred Korematsu passed away on March 30, 2005; today, the Fred Korematsu Institute works to educate people about his life story and the importance of civil liberties; the institute also aims to promote awareness of his life and work by schools, the general public, and state and federal legislators of his life with the observation of his birthdate, January 30, as Fred T. Korematsu Day of Civil Liberties and the Constitution; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE HUNDRED FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE SENATE CONCURRING HEREIN, that we commend Fred T. Korematsu for his courageous efforts for civil liberties; and be it further

RESOLVED, That we honor the legacy of Fred Korematsu, his institute, and his children who work so diligently to educate the public by encouraging schools and institutes of higher learning throughout the State of Illinois to incorporate his story and valiant stand for American values of justice into their curriculum; and be it further

RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be presented to the Illinois State Board of Education and each Illinois state university.