Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians
The Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians (CWRIC)[1] was a group of nine people appointed by the U.S. Congress in 1980 to conduct an official governmental study into the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II.
Proceedings
The Commission examined
Findings
First, the Commission looked at the decision of the exclusion, the justification for this, and the conditions that permitted the decision. The decision they found was mostly based on fear and
The Commission then examined the detention of these ethnic Japanese civilians and the effects of this exclusion and detention. The decision to detain was found by the commission to be due to the believed threat the Japanese were potential spies and saboteurs; but as found before, this was extremely unlikely. These camps were cruel and inhumane. People were housed in rooms of twenty by twenty-four feet. These "houses" were for a full family no matter the size.
Report and recommendations
In 1983, the CWRIC issued its findings in Personal Justice Denied, concluding that the incarceration of Japanese Americans had not been justified by military necessity.[1] The Commission even stated: "A grave injustice was done to American citizens and resident aliens of Japanese ancestry who, without individual review or any probative evidence against them..." The report determined that the decision to incarcerate was based on "racial prejudice, wartime hysteria, and a failure of political leadership."[2] The Commission concluded that the incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II was a "grave injustice".
Lastly, the Commission recommended legislative remedies: an official
Members of the Commission
- Joan Z. Bernstein, Chair[2]
- Daniel E. Lungren, Vice-Chair
- Edward W. Brooke
- Robert F. Drinan
- Arthur S. Flemming
- Arthur J. Goldberg
- Ishmael V. Gromoff
- William M. Marutani
- Hugh B. Mitchell
- Angus Macbeth (Special Counsel)
References
- ^ a b c d "Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians". Densho Encyclopedia. Retrieved 2013-10-14.
- ^ a b c d e f g h "Personal Justice Denied: Report of the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians". National Archives. Government Printing Office, Washington DC. December 1982. Retrieved 2013-10-14.
- ^ "Redress Hearings Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians (CWRIC) Hearings (1981)". Nikkei for Civil Rights and Redress. Retrieved 21 June 2014.
- ^ "Internment History Timeline". Children of the Camps. PBS.
- ^ "Public Law 100-383 -- August 10, 1988". Internment Archives. Retrieved 21 June 2014.
- ^ "Text of the Civil Liberties Act of 1987". GovTrack. GovTrack. Retrieved 21 June 2014.
- ^ "Japanese Latin Americans | Densho Encyclopedia". encyclopedia.densho.org. Retrieved 2021-09-23.