<Begin Segment 17>

MN: Now how did you end up in San Francisco?

MS: Well, I wanted to finish, go to law school, so I had applied to Georgetown in Washington, D.C. and Hastings here, so I told my wife, "Where would you want to live?" And without asking it twice, says back here, so we moved to San Francisco, where I attended Hastings. But I didn't finish. I got sick and I couldn't.

MN: You had some interesting discussions with your constitutional law professor.

MS: Yeah.

MN: What did you talk about?

MS: Well, the writing examination paper, you had to write like you were trying the case before a court, and every time they talked about the evacuation case I acted like, as a Japanese individual rather than a potential lawyer, so they didn't think I was following the decorum of writing. So I didn't realize that I had harbored such feelings, but one day when I failed the constitutional law I was really disgusted with myself, but too late. Anyway, we didn't have proper counseling of how to... but that's too late. But anyway, nevertheless, we got to be very knowledgeable in the, what happened to Japanese.

MN: Did you argue that detention was illegal?

MS: What?

MN: Did you argue in your paper that the detention was illegal?

MS: Oh yeah. Well, to me, it's still illegal. We were never charged, never had a trial, yet we found ourselves interned without charges, without a trial. But I can see why they would flunk me out of the class 'cause I never argued the, writing like we were arguing before a court, but that's hindsight. I don't think I'm that dumb, but you get emotionally involved and you don't know what you, you forget your role. Yeah.

MN: So your constitutional law professor, did they feel that it was legal to detain Japanese Americans?

MS: No. They knew it was illegal. I mean, they're not stupid, but the way I argued the case was stupid, I think. But, now, but at the time, I was so incensed with the stupidity of the whole thing that, so even today I don't... how could they make a mistake where you're not charged, where you don't have a trial, no convictions, and yet imprisoned. Illegal. I still get mad. But anyway, but that's not arguing it like you would in a courthouse. You can't help it if you feel personally that strongly about the situation, but I still don't want to do a project, you've got the, only half of the billion, two hundred million, about half of the people that never got paid for the... like for example, the boys that were killed in action with the 442nd, that kind of, the Isseis that died before that. If we're, if by law training at that time -- I was in the middle of law school -- included legislative changes, my attitude probably would be a lot different today. But I'd like to see the law passed where all the guys that, 442nd at least, that spent time in the camp be paid, but then the parents and these brothers that died before, I think are entitled to be compensated. But I'm ninety years old. What are you gonna do? [Laughs] So I don't like to see something started that I can't finish, but at first, if young people are interested, I have a lot of research papers on that, of people that can help 'em. But it's, what's done is done.

<End Segment 17> - Copyright © 2011 Densho. All Rights Reserved.