Righting a Wrong: Japanese Americans and the Passage of the Civil Liberties Act of 1988 (Asian America) - Softcover

Hatamiya, Leslie T.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0804723664 ISBN 13: 9780804723664

Publisher: Stanford University Press, 1994

Synopsis

In 1982, a congressional commission concluded that the incarceration of 120,000 Americans of Japanese ancestry during World War II resulted from racism, war hysteria, and failed political leadership. Against long odds, the commission's recommendation that the U.S. government offer financial redress became law on August 10, 1988, when President Reagan signed the Civil Liberties Act. This book is a case study of the political, institutional, and external factors that led to the passage of this controversial legislation. Based on extensive interviews with Senators, members of Congress, key members of their staffs, and lobbyists, as well as statistical analyses of roll call votes, this book provides a uniquely rich account of the passage of a federal law. It also places the campaign for redress in the broader theoretical context of the workings of Congress and the policy-making process.―Publisher description.

About this title

From Library Journal:

The incarceration of 120,000 Americans of Japanese ancestry during World War II has been written about extensively. This fine addition to the library is the story of the long and bitter political struggle in Congress to pass the Civil Liberties Act of 1988, a law to pay reparations to former camp inmates. The author explains how a bill with no backing from powerful lobbyists or constituents, in a time of economic belt-tightening, became a law through the committed efforts of a few politicians who appealed to the moral issue at hand. The detail is staggering. Very little of the legislative history is omitted, which makes the book tedious in parts, yet anyone interested in redress issues of the imprisoned Japanese Americans or in the workings of Congress will find this book a good case study in both the issues and processes. Recommended for public and academic libraries.
- Glenn Masuchika, Chaminade Univ. Lib., Honolulu
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Stanford University Press
• Publication date: 1994
• ISBN 10: 0804723664
• ISBN 13: 9780804723664
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 287