Hear the Hon. Robert M. Takasugi

[kasia]

THE USA PATRIOT ACT AND THE WORLD WAR II

INTERNMENT CAMPS: NEVER AGAIN?

An Educational Forum sponsored by the Muslim Public Affairs Council and
The Nikkei for Civil Rights and Redress 9/11 Committee

MARCH 1, 2003 ?2:00 PM
Japanese American Cultural Community Center, Room 410
244 South San Pedro Street

Speakers: Nagwa Ibrahim of the Muslim Public Affairs Council
Judge Robert Takasugi, Senior Federal Judge

During World I there were the Palmer Raids. During World War II there were the internment camps for Japanese Americans and today there is the USA Patriot Act. The USA Patriot Act rolls back the clock on our democratic and hard won civil rights and does nothing to combat terrorism. Last month, MPAC along with the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the American Muslim Council(AMC) and the American Muslim Alliance(AMA) formed a coalition to repeal and amend this law. Learn more about the USA Patriot Act and the proposed Patriot Act II and why civil rights organizations oppose them.

For more information call NCRR (213) 680-3484 or check the NCRR website: http://www.ncrr-la.org.

[kasia]

i'll be there :P

[anne]

Sad things is, I believe there is a proposal floating around for Patriot Act II.

[anne]

Links re: Patriot Act II


http://abcnews.go.com/sections/us/HallsOfJ...sofjustice.html (http://abcnews.go.com/sections/us/HallsOfJustice/hallsofjustice.html)

http://www.onlinejournal.com/Special_Repor...003winslow.html (http://www.onlinejournal.com/Special_Reports/022003Winslow/022003winslow.html)

[kasia]

Originally posted by anne@Feb 25 2003, 10:59 PM
Sad things is, I believe there is a proposal floating around for Patriot Act II.
yep, there is. that's why i want to learn more details about the first one and how the second one differs.

also, for those of you who don't know - Judge Takasugi and his family are survivors of the Japanese internment. he was interned at the age of 12. he went on to become one of the first Asian-Americans to graduate from USC law school - he didn't get in the first year he applied b/c they had already filled their one asian seat. the dean had called him to let him know that they would accept him the following year. he graduated #2 in his class.

i'd encourage all in the l.a. area to attend. he's a very inspirational speaker. i don't think i'd be so sure of where i'd be headed in law or the type of lawyer i'd like to be if it weren't for him.

[anne]

I would like to go and am going to try to get over my daily commute fatigue :cry: to get into LA on Saturday (work in LA, live in SE Orange County....yes, Republican country. Our house is the only one with an anti-war poster. :ph34r: on our block) Anway, I already passed the info to several people and hopefully they will be able to make it too.

[kasia]

ab and i showed up a bit late b/c i wrote down the time incorrectly :ph34r: still caught a good hour of it, though. anne heard the discussion in its entirety, so perhaps she can fill us in (when she has time) of what happened.

although it seems to be confirmed that there is a draft of the USA Patriot Act II out there, the mainstream media has chosen to provide us no information whatsoever on it. none of us - not even the lawyers at yesterday's conference - have any idea of how it really differs from USA Patriot Act or when it will be voted on and possibly implemented. as stated yesterday, the USA Patriot Act was implemented almost immediately after 9/11 and affected thousands of lives. if we don't pay attention, we may be hit in the same way once again.

the judge was also kind enough to ask us to brief the audience on the coble campaign and how it has progressed. luckily, we had a hard copy of the petition and many members of the audience signed.

[kasia]

information about the usa patriot act has been released. more here (http://forums.yellowworld.org/index.php?s=&act=ST&f=5&t=6607&st=0&#entry88674).

[anne]

The judge gave a brief intro on the interment camps and then Kamal (can't remember his last name) from MPAC provided us with information on the Patriot Act and some details of what Arab and Musilims in this country have experienced based on the Patriot Act. It seems that the Patriot Act was passed 6weeks after 9/11 and it's a 340+ page document. According the Judge and Kamal, the document is poorly written and Kamal expressed concerns that our representatives and legislators probably did not have the opportunity to read the document appropriately, because between the bill proposal and the passing of the law, there was also the anthrax scare.

[anne]

Oh yeah.. another thing that was pointed out: that the Act basically in essence removes our check and balances system. Orders and actions have been executed through the executive branch and the judiciary branch has been left out of the process and it seems that it is the intent.