] The days following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor ] were dark days of the American spirit. Unable to strike ] back effectively against the Japanese Empire, Americans ] in the Western states lashed out at fellow citizens and ] resident aliens of Japanese ancestry. ] ] Executive Order 9066, signed by President Roosevelt on ] February 19, 1942, was the instrument that allowed ] military commanders to designate areas "from which any or ] all persons may be excluded." Under this order all ] Japanese and Americans of Japanese ancestry were removed ] from Western coastal regions to guarded camps in the ] interior. Former Supreme Court Justice Tom C. Clark, who ] represented the Department of Justice in the ] "relocation," writes in the Epilogue to this book: ] ] The truth is -- as this deplorable experience proves -- ] that constitutions and laws are not sufficient of ] themselves...Despite the uneqivocal language of the ] Constitution of the United States that the writ of habeas ] corpus shall not be suspended, and despite the Fifth ] Amendment's command that no person shall be deprived of ] life, liberty or property without due process of law, ] both of these constitutional safeguards were denied by ] military action under Executive Order 9066... I plan on ordering this book - as I fear it could happen again here in the 21st century. EXECUTIVE ORDER 9066: The Internment of 110,000 Japanese |