Minoru Yasui
Nisei male. Born October 19, 1916, in Hood River, Oregon. Earned a law degree from the University of Oregon law school and was practicing law prior to World War II. In 1942, deliberately defied the curfew imposed upon Japanese Americans in Portland, Oregon, and was arrested. His case was tried, and he was sentenced to one year in prison and given a $5000 fine. The appeal eventually reached the Supreme Court, which ruled that the government did have the authority to restrict the lives of civilian citizens during wartime. Yasui's fine was removed and he was released to the Minidoka concentration camp, Idaho. In the 1980s, his case was reopened under writ of error coram nobis, and 1986 his conviction was overturned by the Oregon federal court.
Interviews
00:44:28 — 16 segments.
