Constitutional Courage on Display at Carolina Law

UNC School of Law welcomed Dr. Karen Korematsu to deliver this year’s Murphy Distinguished Lecture, a prestigious series established by the class of 1990 to honor distinguished professor William P. Murphy, who championed civil rights from 1971 to 1990. Students, faculty, staff, and prospective students packed the classroom to capacity, eager to hear about her father’s landmark fight against the unconstitutional incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II.

“One person made a difference in the face of adversity, and so can you,” Korematsu told the attentive audience of future legal professionals. “Stand up for what is right.”

Fred Korematsu refused to comply with Executive Order 9066, which forcibly removed approximately 125,000 people of Japanese ancestry from their homes following Pearl Harbor. His arrest in 1942 led to a Supreme Court case challenging the government’s actions. Carolina Law students listened intently as Korematsu described her father’s courageous resistance in the face of overwhelming opposition.

“They called it internment. It was incarceration. They were prison camps. It was a concentration camp. Let’s call it what it was,” she said, distinguishing the American camps from the death and slave labor camps of Europe. “The Japanese American incarceration was inhumane, period.”

The personal cost of this legal battle became clear as Korematsu continued her story. Fred faced ostracism from his own community, with many fearing his actions would “make it bad for us.” Despite this isolation, he maintained his conviction that the government had violated constitutional rights — a stance that would take decades to vindicate.

That vindication finally came when Professor Peter Irons and researcher Aiko Herzig-Yoshinaga uncovered government documents proving the Department of Justice had deliberately misled the Supreme Court. This evidence led to a successful petition for a writ of coram nobis to vacate Korematsu’s conviction in 1983, showing Carolina Law students how determined legal scholarship can correct historical injustices.

Dr. Korematsu has continued her father’s legacy of fighting for civil liberties and against government overreach by founding the Fred T. Korematsu Institute for Civil Rights and Education in 2009. She drew direct connections between the historical Japanese American incarceration and present-day civil liberties concerns.

“My father’s Supreme Court case is more relevant now than ever,” she said.

This relevance became more apparent during the Q&A session when Carolina Law’s Professor Eric Muller provided context on the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, which has recently reentered public debate regarding immigration policy and presidential powers.

“It authorizes the president to arrest and do essentially what the President wishes with individuals who are nationals of nations with which the United States is at war or which are invading the United States,” Muller said.

By hosting speakers like Dr. Korematsu, the Murphy Distinguished Lecture Series brings distinguished guests to Carolina Law to address cutting-edge legal issues in constitutional law, labor law, and employment discrimination — fields in which Professor Murphy worked throughout his career.

As the lecture concluded, Dr. Korematsu addressed how future lawyers and judges can prevent similar constitutional violations. She urged Carolina Law students to become “pebbles in the pond” by sharing her father’s story and speaking up when they witness injustice. This ripple effect, she explained, builds bridges between communities and helps protect everyone’s civil liberties.

“We should appreciate each other’s differences because we can learn something from each other,” she said. “That’s how we prevent history from repeating itself.”