Motoyoshi v. United States

33 Fed. Cl. 45, 1995 U.S. Claims LEXIS 60, 1995 WL 140156
CourtUnited States Court of Federal Claims
DecidedMarch 31, 1995
DocketNo. 93-784C
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 33 Fed. Cl. 45 (Motoyoshi v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Court of Federal Claims primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Motoyoshi v. United States, 33 Fed. Cl. 45, 1995 U.S. Claims LEXIS 60, 1995 WL 140156 (uscfc 1995).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OF DECISION

HARKINS, Senior Judge.

Howard Den Motoyoshi (plaintiff) seeks judicial review of the denial on January 14, 1993, of compensation under the Civil Liberties Act of 1988 (the Act), 50 App.U.S.C. §§ 1989b to 1989b-9, Pub.L. No. 100-383 (1988).1 The Act is administered by the Attorney General, and after September 27, 1992, the Act authorized judicial review in this court of a denial of compensation. A denial is reviewed on the administrative record, and the court may set aside a denial if it is found to be arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, or otherwise not in accordance with law. Section 1989b-4(h). The case came before the court on March 24, 1995, on cross-motions for summary judgment. At the close of argument, plaintiffs motion for summary judgment was allowed; defendant’s motion for summary judgment was denied; the January 14, 1993, denial of compensation was set aside; and the Attorney General was directed to award compensation in the amount of $20,000, as authorized by Section 1989b-4(a)(1).

* * * * * *
The Act implements recommendations in the report by the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians (Commission) which was created in 1980 to study grievances of United States citizens of Japanese ancestry for discriminatory treatment during World War II. The Commission heard testimony from 750 witnesses, including: evacuees, government-officials, citizens and historians, and reviewed archival materials possessed by the Government and universities. Perspective on the Act’s restitution provisions and the facts applicable to plaintiffs claim, re[47]*47quires examination of relevant background conditions.
On February 19, 1942, President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066. The order was issued in response to World War II hysteria following the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Although Executive Order 9066 does not refer to persons on Japanese ancestry, that is the group that the order contemplated. Personal Justice Denied: Report of the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians (1982) at 49. The order authorized the Secretary of War and military commanders to:
prescribe military areas in such places and of such extent as he or the appropriate Military commander may determine, from which any or all persons may be excluded, and with respect to which, the right of any person to enter, remain in, or leave shall be subject to whatever restrictions the Secretary of War of the appropriate Military commander may impose in his discretion. The Secretary of War is hereby authorized to provide for residents of any such area who are excluded therefrom, such transportation, food, shelter, and other accommodations as may be necessary—

Exec.Order 9066, 7 Fed.Reg. 1407 (1942).

In response to this authority, Proclamation No. 1 followed on March 2, 1942, stating that pursuant to Executive Order 9066, certain areas of the western United States (Arizona, California, Oregon, and Washington) were designated Military Zones, and that aliens and persons of Japanese ancestry would, by subsequent proclamation, be excluded. 7 Fed.Reg. 2320 (1942). Lt. Gen. DeWitt, in Proclamation No. 1 stated that these areas were “particularly subject to attack, to attempted invasion by the armed forces of nations with which the United States is now at war, and, in connection therewith, is subject to espionage and acts of sabotage, thereby requiring the adoption of military measures necessary to establish safeguards against such enemy operations.” 7 Fed.Reg. 2321 (1942). Proclamation No. 1 also imposed the requirement that aliens and persons of Japanese ancestry complete a “Change of Residence Notice” before relocating outside the Military Zone. 7 Fed.Reg. 2320 (1942). This proclamation allowed included individuals the opportunity to “voluntarily” relocate.

Plaintiffs parents were living in Santa Barbara, California, in March 1942, when Proclamation No. 1 was issued. In response, they filed the appropriate “Change of Residence Notice” and on March 26, 1942, moved from California to Denver, Colorado.

The “voluntary” evacuation period lasted a little over three weeks. At the end of March 1942, Proclamation No. 4 was issued imposing mandatory evacuation. Subsequently, approximately 120,000 citizens and permanent residents of Japanese ancestry were ordered, on short notice, to pack what they could carry, and report to assembly centers. From there, they were sent to internment camps, where many remained for over 3 years.

After plaintiffs birth, on January 2, 1943, in Denver, Colorado, his family received special permission to live in Portland, Oregon, part of the restricted Military Zone. Permission was granted to allow his father, Richard Yoshimi Motoyoshi, to work in the Foreign Broadcast Intelligence Service as a translator of Japanese propaganda broadcasts transmitted to the United States. Upon completion of that service plaintiff and his family returned to Denver.

The Commission found that there was no military necessity to justify Executive Order 9066, and the ensuing exclusion, and in fact that the internment was the result of “race prejudice, war hysteria and a failure of political leadership.” Personal Justice Denied: Report of the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians (1982) at 18. There was not one documented incident of sabotage or espionage committed by a citizen or alien of Japanese ancestry. Id. at 3, 8. President Roosevelt had relied on the Secretary of War, Henry L. Stimson, to issue the Executive Order, who, in turn, had relied on a report by Lt. Gen. DeWitt. Lt. Gen. DeWitt’s recommendation stated:

In the war in which we are now engaged racial affinities are not severed by migra[48]*48tion. The Japanese race is án enemy race and while many second and third generation Japanese born on United States soil, possessed of United States citizenship, have become “Americanized,” the racial strains are undiluted____ It, therefore, follows that along the vital Pacific Coast over 112,000 potential enemies, of Japanese extraction are at large today. There are indications that these were organized and ready for concerted action at a favorable opportunity. The very fact that no sabotage has taken place to date is a disturbing and confirming indication that such action will be taken.

Id. at 6.

The Commission also found that there was substantial harm and injury from the evacuation. “There was the obvious cost of homes and businesses sold or abandoned under circumstances of great distress, as well as injury to careers and professional advancement. But, most important, there was the loss of liberty and the personal stigma of suspected disloyalty for thousands of people who knew themselves to be devoted to their country’s cause----” Id. at 3. A private firm was asked by the Commission to calculate the economic loss to the Japanese evacuees. The firm, ICF, Inc., estimated income losses to the Japanese Americans to be between $600 — $900 million, not accounting for lost investment opportunities. Further, the firm found property losses sustained to total $210 million to $1.1 billion. 134 Cong.Rec. 7250 (1988).

In addition to monetary losses were the recognized liberty losses. The exclusion was imposed on all citizens and aliens of Japanese ancestry regardless of their patriotism.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Shibayama v. United States
55 Fed. Cl. 720 (Federal Claims, 2002)
Murakami v. United States
52 Fed. Cl. 232 (Federal Claims, 2002)
Song v. United States
43 Fed. Cl. 621 (Federal Claims, 1999)
Kaneko v. United States
36 Fed. Cl. 101 (Federal Claims, 1996)
Howard Den Motoyoshi v. United States
74 F.3d 1258 (Federal Circuit, 1995)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
33 Fed. Cl. 45, 1995 U.S. Claims LEXIS 60, 1995 WL 140156, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/motoyoshi-v-united-states-uscfc-1995.