February 19, 2025–Due Process Institute and 97 organizations wrote to Congress in strong support of efforts to recognize Fred Korematsu’s legacy as a civil rights hero. Accordingly, we offer our endorsement and support for the reintroduction of the following legislation in the 119th Congress: (1) Fred Korematsu Congressional Gold Medal Act; (2) Recognizing the importance of establishing a national “Fred Korematsu Day of Civil Liberties and the Constitution”; (3) Korematsu-Takai Civil Liberties Protection Act.
Korematsu stood against unfounded and racist actions. At the time, our institutions — our democracy — failed him. In 1944, the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of excluding Japanese Americans from the West Coast in a 6-3 majority in Korematsu v. United States. The dissent by Justice Frank Murphy decried the majority opinion and declared that the order to detain Japanese Americans was the “legalization of racism” and that “[r]acial discrimination in any form and in any degree has no justifiable part whatever in our democratic way of life.”
We urge Congress to elevate this history for all Americans to learn from it and recognize the importance of this civil rights hero who took a stand on behalf of all of us, and urge the enactment of the following legislation:
Korematsu-Takai Civil Liberties Protection Act, which would prohibit detention or imprisonment based solely on an actual or perceived protected characteristic of an individual.
Recognizing the importance of establishing a national “Fred Korematsu Day of Civil Liberties and the Constitution,” which will help to ensure that Fred Korematsu’s legacy is remembered and honored, and that the lessons of the incarceration are not forgotten.
Fred Korematsu Congressional Gold Medal Act, which will honor Fred Korematsu for his decades-long fight for justice, and will serve as a powerful reminder of the importance of protecting civil liberties for all Americans.