In the Shadow of Korematsu: Democratic Liberties and National Security

The national security and civil liberties tensions of the World War II mass incarceration link 9/11 and the 2015 Paris-San Bernardino attacks to the Trump era in America--an era darkened by accelerating discrimination against and intimidation of those asserting rights of freedom of religion, association and speech, and an era marked by increasingly volatile protests. This book discusses the broad civil liberties challenges posed by these past-into-the-future linkages, highlighting pressing questions about the significance of judicial independence for a constitutional democracy committed both to security and to the rule of law. What will happen when those profiled, detained, harassed, or discriminated against under the mantle of national security turn to the courts for legal protection? How will the U.S. courts respond to the need to protect both society and fundamental democratic values of our political process? Will courts fall passively in line with the elective branches, as they did in Korematsu v. United States, or serve as the guardian of the Bill of Rights, scrutinizing claims of pressing public necessity as justification for curtailing fundamental liberties?

About the Author :
Eric K. Yamamoto is the Fred T. Korematsu Professor of Law and Social Justice at the William S. Richardson School of Law, University of Hawaii. He is nationally and internationally recognized for his legal work and scholarship on civil procedure as well as national security, civil liberties, civil rights, and social justice, with an emphasis on reconciliation initiatives and redress for historic injustice. Professor Yamamoto has received eight outstanding law teacher awards, including the Outstanding Law Professor for 2006 from the nationwide Society of American Law Teachers. He has also received the University of Hawaii's highest honor-the Regents Medal for Teaching Excellence. He authored Interracial Justice: Conflict and Reconciliation in Post-Civil Rights America and coauthored, with Margaret Chon, Race, Rights and Reparation: Law and the Japanese American Internment. He has published over eighty articles and book chapters. He has been a visiting professor at the University of California Berkeley School of Law, the Santa Clara Law School, and the City University of New York Law School. He has delivered many keynote addresses and distinguished lectures, including presentations at Berkeley, Michigan, and Harvard, and in Paris, Seoul, Hokkaido and Oxford. David Shih is an actor who has done voice-over work and has worked in television, film, and theater. He has appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Unforgettable, and Law & Order, among others. His voice can be heard in video games in the Grand Theft Auto series, on History.com and the History Channel, and as the narrator for several books, including 47 Ronin and The Third Son. He is the winner of an AudioFile Earphones Award.

Review :
"A clear and convincing perspective...A nuanced and multilayered account...Truly a book for our times." -- "Michael Omi, Professor, University of California, Berkeley"