Yasui

Mitsuye Endo and Fred Korematsu may have had more personal reasons for challenging the government than Min Yasui and Gordon Hirabayshi, but they were opposing unjust government actions in a hostile and racially charged environment.

Is That Legal?: Greg Robinson: Mitusye Endo, Great In Her Obscurity 2006

I agree with Greg Robinson that Mitsuye Endo, along with Min Yasui, Fred Korematsu and Gordon Hirabayashi, were heroes.

Is That Legal?: Greg Robinson: Mitusye Endo, Great In Her Obscurity 2006

Upon his return to Portland, Yasui set out to challenge President Roosevelt's Executive Order 9066.

Gil Asakawa: Min Yasui's Legacy Lives on in a Denver Program That Honors Volunteerism Gil Asakawa 2010

In November of 1942, the judge in his case agreed with Yasui and ruled that the curfew order was unconstitutional because it affected American citizens.

Gil Asakawa: Min Yasui's Legacy Lives on in a Denver Program That Honors Volunteerism Gil Asakawa 2010

An appeal was decided the next year by the US Supreme Court, which ruled that American citizens could be subjected to curfews, and but that Yasui had not forfeited his citizenship by working for the Japanese government.

Gil Asakawa: Min Yasui's Legacy Lives on in a Denver Program That Honors Volunteerism Gil Asakawa 2010

But the judge also ruled that because Yasui had worked for the Japanese consulate, he had forfeited his American citizenship and was guilty of violating the curfew.

Gil Asakawa: Min Yasui's Legacy Lives on in a Denver Program That Honors Volunteerism Gil Asakawa 2010

Yasui was the first Japanese American graduate of the U of O in 1939; he's also the first-ever Asian American name to grace an endowed chair for any law school in the country.

Gil Asakawa: Min Yasui's Legacy Lives on in a Denver Program That Honors Volunteerism Gil Asakawa 2010

Min Yasui grew up in Hood River, Oregon, the son of a very successful produce grower.

Gil Asakawa: Min Yasui's Legacy Lives on in a Denver Program That Honors Volunteerism Gil Asakawa 2010

Yasui died in 1986 but was a powerful presence in Denver, and nationally, for decades.

Gil Asakawa: Min Yasui's Legacy Lives on in a Denver Program That Honors Volunteerism Gil Asakawa 2010

The University of Oregon, Yasui's alma mater, gave True Yasui a 2002 Meritorious Service Award, given each year to recipients who have made extraordinary contributions to legal education and the law.

Gil Asakawa: Min Yasui's Legacy Lives on in a Denver Program That Honors Volunteerism Gil Asakawa 2010