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April 3, 2007
Today I Am Filing An Amicus Curiae Brief Challenging Post-9/11 Racial Detention
The Turkmen case is a lawsuit for damages brought by Arab and Muslim alien men who allege they were swept up and abusively detained on alleged immigration violations in the wake of the attacks of September 11. Back in June of 2006, a federal district judge in New York dismissed the plaintiffs' allegation that the government had illegally singled out Arab and Muslim aliens for prolonged detention before ultimately deporting them. Accepting the allegation that the government had singled out Arabs and Muslims for detention that was longer than necessary, the district judge held that such prolonged detention does not violate equal protection; "the executive," said the trial court, "is free to single out nationals of a particular country" for prolonged detention.
The amici I represent are children of the three Japanese Americans who unsuccessfully challenged racial curfew and detention before the Supreme Court in World War II. Karen Korematsu-Haigh is the daughter of Fred Korematsu (Korematsu v. United States, 323 U.S. 214 (1944)). Jay Hirabayashi is the son of Gordon Hirabayashi (Hirabayashi v. United States, 320 U.S. 81 (1943)). Holly Yasui is the daughter of Minoru Yasui (Yasui v. United States, 320 U.S. 115 (1943)).
Their interest in the Turkmen appeal is in avoiding the repetition of a tragic episode in American history that is also, for them, painful family history. That history is not the ordeal suffered by their famous fathers and other American citizens of Japanese ancestry, but rather that suffered by their grandparents Japanese aliens in the United States at the outbreak of war in December 1941.
Their claim is that the district court's broad endorsement of an executive power to single out aliens for prolonged detention on the basis of race, religion, and national origin is a revival of the long-discredited legal theory that supported the mass and prolonged detention of Japanese aliens during World War II.
The brief is available in .pdf format here.
WIth me on the brief were Steve Pesner, Bob Pees, and David Altschuler of the New York office of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld.
UPDATE: The amicus brief is the subject of an article by Nina Bernstein in today's New York Times.
Posted by Eric at April 3, 2007 12:05 AM
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Comments
Wow! That is a powerful brief. I am so glad you are working on this!
Posted by: MacKenzie at April 3, 2007 10:18 AM
Continuing the latter day efforts of Fred K! Good luck, and keep up the good work!
Posted by: paul yamada at April 3, 2007 2:06 PM
Accepting the allegation that the government had singled out Arabs and Muslims for detention that was longer than necessary...
Pardon my ignorance, I'm not a lawyer, but how is detention "longer than necessary" different from imprisonment? And how are people imprisoned (or otherwise punished) without recourse to the courts?
ELM: Initially, they were lawfully detained due to immigration law violations (overstayed visas, etc.). However, they were singled out for lengthier-than-normal-and-necessary detention on the basis of their race and faith.
Posted by: Wapiti at April 4, 2007 12:22 PM
Imprisoning Muslims or Japanese Americans is a kind of witch hunt. There was imprisonment based on supposed faith in that instance, as well.
I have no idea of how to file an amicus brief or if it would be at all helpful in this instance, but I am a descendant of Sarah Warren Osborne, one of the first three women to be accused in the Salem witch trials. She died in jail, waiting for her verdict.
If this would be helpful to you, please feel free to contact me. If it wouldn't, please feel free to simply ignore it.
Posted by: Maya's Granny at April 13, 2007 8:25 PM
In February, the US House of Representatives passed a Resolution (R 122) calling for a National Day of Remembrance for Japanese Americans, German Americans, and Italian Americans who were interned during WWII. Less than one week after the Resolution passed the Japanese American Citizens League intentionally denied the existence of German and Italian American internment at a very public University event.
The ACLU and Portland State University (who were cosponsors of the event) became enablers by their refusal to speak up and correct the record. Even three months after the event their silence continues. Ironically, the event was "Fighting for Civil Rights in an Era of Terror". Yet, the JACL and the ACLU and Portland State all trashed the rights of non Japanese American internees of WWII. You can read a chronological posting of the events at:
http://www.foitimes.com/internment/AllMessages.pdf
Posted by: S. A. Weiss at May 7, 2007 10:32 AM