Working on the 'case of a lifetime'

The importance of Japanese American role models in childhood community Avoiding the pigeonhole of stereotypes during school years First learning about the incarceration experience in college Recognizing issues of dual identity in the nisei generation Heightened awareness of identity as a Japanese American Feeling angry upon reading of Supreme Court case, 'Korematsu v. United States' Is 'Korematsu v. United States' still a threat to American civil liberties? Working on the 'case of a lifetime'

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I started working on this case when I was one or two years fresh out of law school. Many people would call this the case of a lifetime, and to have that quote, “case of a lifetime” as soon as you get out of law school is really pretty amazing. It taught me so many things that have served me on a regular basis. It certainly taught me about how politics relates to the law, and how inextricably linked political decisions are from legal decisions. It gave me a perspective on the law that I think I bring to my work constantly, that there's a relationship between law, politics, economics, social structures, prejudice. The law embodies everything that exists in society. It is not a separate entity, and that again, the law is an elastic entity to the extent that it can and should be used as a tool to effectuate social change. Certainly the case gave me that perspective. In other words, kind of a critical view of the law rather than just an accepting view of the law.

Date: March 23 & 24, 2000
Location: Washington, US
Interviewer: Margaret Chon, Alice Ito
Contributed by: Denshō: The Japanese American Legacy Project.

law lawyers politics