Marriott Marquis Hotel
780 Mission St, San Francisco, CA 94103
Gordon Hirabayashi (1918–2012), Minoru Yasui (1916–1986), and Fred Korematsu (1919–2005), in 1983.
(Photo courtesy of Bob Hsiang)
Join the Fred T. Korematsu Institute for a special in-person dinner event on Saturday, October 21, 2023, at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in San Francisco to commemorate a momentous decision in civil rights history: the 40th anniversary of the coram nobis cases.
In 1983, these cases led to the overturning of the federal convictions of Gordon Hirabayashi, Minoru Yasui, and Fred Korematsu, who all dared to challenge President Roosevelt’s Executive Order 9066. These landmark legal battles vindicated Japanese Americans incarcerated during World War II and set legal precedents that continue to be relevant to this day. Our program will honor the heroes and original legal teams of the three historic cases and how they relate to civil rights, social justice and advocacy today.
Coram nobis refers to a petition for a writ of error coram nobis that asks a court to vacate a criminal conviction, based on an error that occurred “before” the court and resulted in a manifest of justice.
Special Program Announcement!
Fireside chat featuring the Hon. Marilyn Hall Patel and the Hon. Mary Schroeder
Judges Patel and Schroeder issued the judgments that overturned the convictions of Fred Korematsu and Gordon Hirabayashi in their respective cases. We are delighted that they will be joining us at the event in this special fireside chat with the Hon. Ed Chen, Senior Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California and a member of the pro bono legal team that represented Fred Korematsu in his coram nobis case.
Keynote Speaker
The Korematsu Institute is honored to welcome Neal Katyal as our keynote speaker and recipient of the Fred Korematsu Social Justice Award. Neal is a U.S. Supreme Court lawyer, law professor, author and media commentator. He was the Acting Solicitor General of the United States who, in 2011, issued a statement from his office, “Confession of Error: the Solicitor General’s mistakes during the Japanese American Internment Cases,” that acknowledged the dishonesty of the U.S. government in defending the Japanese American internment program before the Supreme Court.
Read Neal's biography on the Georgetown Law website.
Thank You to Our Supporters
Korematsu Champion Sponsor & VIP Reception Host
