S8331

The New York State Senate passed legislation establishing January 30th as Fred Korematsu Day of Civil Liberties and the Constitution, honoring the Japanese-American civil rights advocate who resisted forced internment during World War II. The bill, S8331, passed on a roll call vote with 61 ayes. Sen. Mayer, the bill's sponsor, explained that the measure recognizes the contributions of Japanese-Americans and the painful history of the internment camps, which forcibly relocated over 120,000 people of Japanese descent—70,000 of them American citizens—during the war. Korematsu famously refused to comply with relocation orders and challenged his conviction in federal court, though the Supreme Court ultimately upheld it in the landmark case Korematsu v. United States. His conviction was overturned in 1984, and he spent his post-war years as a civil rights advocate. The bill will make New York the seventh state to recognize the day, joining New Jersey, Hawaii, California, Virginia, Michigan, and Arizona. The measure now heads to the Assembly, where Assemblymember Grace Lee is carrying companion legislation.