Letter from Clifford Forster, American Civil Liberties Union, to Ernest Besig, Director, American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California, July 6, 1942

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AMERICAN Civit Lispertries Union

170 Firrn AvENUE

New York Crry

July 6, 1942

Mr. Ernest Besig

216 Pine St.

San Francisco, Calif.

Dear Ernest;

Roger is now gone on vacation and I

am takins care of all correspondence to him.

We were all very glad -to read about

the decision in the San Francisco Japanese

ballot case.

Sofar as the Korematsu matter is con-

cerned I don't believe that the points you

raise go outside the limits laid down by our

Board. As a practical matter, it would be

best not to arcue the question of whether

the government may constitutionally evacuate

American citizens from any zone. The chief

issue, as I see it, is the discriminatory

foundation on which evacuation orders have

been based. You can therefore raise all

the more important questions which we wish

to have decided in the case.

Sincerely yours,

CFsSH Clifford Forster

lee ei.

ere 1S ere trad, ow Cod

490

In collections

Fred Korematsu case files, U.S. Supreme Court 1942-1944

Details

Title: Letter from Clifford Forster, American Civil Liberties Union, to Ernest Besig, Director, American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California, July 6, 1942
Creator: Forster, Clifford
Contributor: Besig, Ernest
Date: 1942 July 06
Identifier: MS-3580_1386_0003
Description: Letter from Clifford Forster at the ACLU office in New York to Ernest Besig, arguing that in the Korematsu case Besig should focus on the discriminatory bases of the evacuation orders, rather than on the constitutionality of forced removal of American citizens in general.
Genre: correspondence
Physical description: 1 page, 8.5 x 6 inches, typescript
Preferred citation: Letter from Clifford Forster, American Civil Liberties Union, to Ernest Besig, Director, American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California, July 6, 1942; American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California Records--Case Files, 1934-1993--Korematsu, Fred, 1942-1946--U.S. Supreme Court 1942-1944, MS-3580_1386; California Historical Society.
Rights statement: In Copyright
Publication rights: Copyright (or related rights to publicity and privacy) for materials in this collection, created by the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California and other parties, was not transferred to the California Historical Society (CHS). Permission for reproduction or publication of materials in this collection beyond that allowed by fair use must be secured from the copyright holder.
Topical subject(s): World War II--Mass removal ('Evacuation')--Exclusion orders
World War II--Mass removal ('Evacuation')--Japanese American community responses
World War II--Resistance and dissidence--Supreme Court cases
Activism and involvement--Civil rights
Activism and involvement--Civil liberties
Immigration and citizenship--Law and legislation--Legal cases
Geographical subject(s): New York (N.Y.)
Finding Aid: https://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/kt009nf073/
Collection identifier: MS-3580_1386