Legal cases/coram nobis cases

Coram nobis cases refer to the 1980s attempt to reverse the World War II-era convictions of Gordon Hirabayashi, Fred Korematsu and Minoru Yasui, who challenged the constitutionality of the curfew and exclusion orders. The Supreme Court had upheld their convictions on the basis of military necessity. In the early 1980s, researcher Aiko Yoshinaga Herzig and legal historian Peter Irons discovered declassified documents verifying that the government had withheld information showing that there was no military necessity in the forced removal and incarceration of Japanese Americans. Soon after, legal teams were assembled and identical coram nobis petitions were filed in three separate federal district courts on behalf of Hirabayashi, Korematsu, and Yasui. All three wartime convictions were subsequently vacated.

Redress and reparations (954)
Legal cases/coram nobis cases (204)

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doc Fred Toyosaburo Korematsu, Petitioner, v. United States of America, Respondent (ddr-csujad-55-2001)

Proceedings from the petition of Fred Korematsu for writ of error coram nobis and the government's motion to vacate conviction and dismiss indictment of Korematsu before the honorable Marilyn Hall Patel. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: sac_jaac_2104

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-55-2001/

vh Eric K. Yamamoto Interview Segment 11 (ddr-densho-1000-235-11)

Resigning from job to work on the coram nobis case

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1000-235-11/

vh Eric K. Yamamoto Interview Segment 14 (ddr-densho-1000-235-14)

Description of the Korematsu legal team

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1000-235-14/

vh Fred Korematsu - Kathryn Korematsu Interview Segment 20 (ddr-densho-1000-181-20)

Helping fundraise for the coram nobis legal team

Due to technical difficulties and conditions at the time of taping, there is loud background noise in this interview.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1000-181-20/

vh Fred Korematsu - Kathryn Korematsu Interview Segment 6 (ddr-densho-1000-181-6)

Feelings upon winning 1983 coram nobis case

Due to technical difficulties and conditions at the time of taping, there is loud background noise in this interview.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1000-181-6/

vh Fred Korematsu - Kathryn Korematsu Interview Segment 19 (ddr-densho-1000-181-19)

Feelings upon hearing the coram nobis verdict

Due to technical difficulties and conditions at the time of taping, there is loud background noise in this interview.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1000-181-19/

vh Fred Korematsu - Kathryn Korematsu Interview Segment 18 (ddr-densho-1000-181-18)

First being contacted by Peter Irons

Due to technical difficulties and conditions at the time of taping, there is loud background noise in this interview.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1000-181-18/

vh Gordon Hirabayashi Interview V Segment 18 (ddr-densho-1000-115-18)

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals vacates the conviction, but does not overturn the Supreme Court ruling

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1000-115-18/

vh Gordon Hirabayashi Interview V Segment 17 (ddr-densho-1000-115-17)

Reopening the case by filing for writ of error coram nobis

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1000-115-17/

vh Dale Minami Interview Segment 31 (ddr-densho-1000-141-31)

Fundraising strategies for the coram nobis effort

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1000-141-31/

vh Dale Minami Interview Segment 28 (ddr-densho-1000-141-28)

Discussion of decision to form three separate legal teams

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1000-141-28/

vh Dale Minami Interview Segment 34 (ddr-densho-1000-141-34)

Media strategy in the coram nobis effort

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1000-141-34/

vh Dale Minami Interview Segment 41 (ddr-densho-1000-141-41)

The day of the hearing: Korematsu's conviction is reversed

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1000-141-41/

vh Dale Minami Interview Segment 38 (ddr-densho-1000-141-38)

Presenting Fred Korematsu's case in a larger political context: "this is an American story about civil rights"

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1000-141-38/

vh Dale Minami Interview Segment 23 (ddr-densho-1000-141-23)

Beginnings of the coram nobis effort: contacted by Peter Irons

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1000-141-23/

vh Dale Minami Interview Segment 27 (ddr-densho-1000-141-27)

First impressions of Fred Korematsu; Fred's initial concern over the legal team's youth, lack of experience

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1000-141-27/

vh Dale Minami Interview Segment 30 (ddr-densho-1000-141-30)

Style differences between the Korematsu lawyers and the legal teams in Seattle and Portland

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1000-141-30/

vh Dale Minami Interview Segment 33 (ddr-densho-1000-141-33)

Decision to file three separate cases; Fred and Kathryn Korematsu's rejection of a pardon: "We should be pardoning the government"

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1000-141-33/

vh Dale Minami Interview Segment 25 (ddr-densho-1000-141-25)

Reaction to Peter Irons' "smoking gun" documents regarding Korematsu: "I was stunned"

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1000-141-25/

vh Dale Minami Interview Segment 42 (ddr-densho-1000-141-42)

Impact of the Korematsu coram nobis case, historically and personally

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1000-141-42/

vh Dale Minami Interview Segment 39 (ddr-densho-1000-141-39)

Hearing on the petition before Judge Marilyn Hall Patel; writing the argument to be presented the following day

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1000-141-39/

vh Dale Minami Interview Segment 32 (ddr-densho-1000-141-32)

Connections between the coram nobis litigation effort and the redress movement

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1000-141-32/

vh Dale Minami Interview Segment 40 (ddr-densho-1000-141-40)

The government's repeated attempts to delay Korematsu's coram nobis case

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1000-141-40/

vh Dale Minami Interview Segment 24 (ddr-densho-1000-141-24)

Initial meeting with Peter Irons, introduction to the idea of coram nobis

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1000-141-24/

vh Dale Minami Interview Segment 26 (ddr-densho-1000-141-26)

Formation of the coram nobis legal teams; discussion of legal strategy

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1000-141-26/