Alternative Facts: The Lies of Executive order 9066 is a documentary film which premiered on US television PBS in 2018. It was shown again in April 2022.
The topic is the internment of Japanese Americans during World War Two, with special focus on the legal aspect of this historical incident.
Here is some basic information about this film:
** Writer and director: Jon Osaki
** Available on the PBS website
** Language: English
** Subtitles: English
** Run time: 58 minutes
Several persons are interviewed in the film. Here are the names of the participants (in alphabetical order):
** Aiko Herzig-Yoshinaga (1924-2018) – a member of the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians
** Peter Irons (born 1940) – a lawyer and an author
** Neal Katyal – former Solicitor General, US Department of Justice
** Dale Minami – a lawyer – a member of the Coram Nobis legal Team
** Mika Osaki – a student, Portland State University
** James Rowe III – a lawyer
** Christen Sasaki – Professor of Asian American Studies, San Francisco State University
** Don Tamaki – a lawyer – a member of the Coram Nobis Legal Team
** Joseph Tsuboi – a student, Tufts University
** Bill Yenne – military historian and author
** Mark Zauderer – a lawyer - stepson of Edward Ennis (1908-1990) who was a civil rights lawyer
Archive footage is used between the talking heads. Archive footage is used to support and supplement the statements made by the participants.
Whenever an official government document is mentioned and quoted, this document is shown on the screen in order to show that this document is real and that the quotation is correct.
As stated above, the director wants to focus on the legal aspect of the internment of Japanese Americans during World War Two.
The director has chosen two examples.
The first example:
Executive Order 9066 (mentioned in the title) which was signed by FDR in February 1942.
The second example:
Three Supreme Court cases which were decided in 1943 and 1944.
Regarding Executive Order 9066
Before he signed Executive Order 9066 in February 1942, the president and the people around him had access to intelligence reports which concluded that a general evacuation of the Japanese Americans living in the western part of the continental USA was not necessary.
The Japanese Americans did not represent a threat to national security. They were loyal to the US.
Some high-ranking officials explicitly stated that a general evacuation was a bad idea.
But the leaders of the white business community in California had another position. They did not like the Japanese Americans. The saw them as rivals. They did not like the competition.
They realized that this moment offered a unique opportunity to get rid of them, perhaps forever. They contacted FDR and explained their position:
If he was ready to give them what they wanted, they were going to support him and his policies in the future.
If he could did not give them what they wanted, they were not going to support him or his policies anymore.
The president was under pressure. The leaders of the white business community were not concerned about national security. They were motivated by racism and economic considerations.
The president allowed himself to give in to the pressure. He signed Executive Order 9066, even though he knew it was based on lies.
This film presents and explains the creation of Executive Order 9066.
Regarding three Supreme Court cases which were decided in 1943 and 1944
Case # 1 = about Gordon Hirabayashi (1918-2012)
This case was decided in 1943
Case # 2 = about Minoru Yasui (1916-1986)
This case was decided in 1943
Case # 3 = about Fred Korematsu (1919-2005)
This case was decided in 1944
Gordon, Minoru, and Fred were outraged by the decision to relocate and intern all Japanese Americans living in the exclusion zone. They could not accept this decision. They felt it was a violation of their civil rights.
They did not work together. Each person decided for himself. Each person decided to violate the law. They wanted to test the validity of the law.
In order to do this, they violated the law on purpose. They did not go into hiding. They violated the law openly. When arrested, they wanted to be charged, so they could have their day in court.
When tried in a court of law, they were found guilty. When they appealed, the verdict was upheld. All three cases went all the way to the US Supreme Court where the verdict was upheld.
In 1981, Peter Irons decided to write a book about these cases. When he began his research, he met Aiko who was studying some of the documents he wanted to see. They decided to join forces and help each other out.
Doing research, they found many secret documents about the internment program which had been declassified.
Government officials were afraid that the Supreme Court was going to strike down the previous verdicts and side with Gordon, Minoru and Fred.
The officials did not have any real evidence to support the case that the evacuation and internment program was necessary, so they decided to suppress and alter evidence that was presented to the Supreme Court.
In other words: these officials deliberately misled the members of the Supreme Court in order to get the result that the government wanted.
Peter Irons knew that American law has a rarely used rule which is known as writ of error Coram Nobis.
This rule can only be used by persons who have served their sentences and who can prove that the government engaged in misconduct at the time of their trials.
A person who qualifies, can use the writ of error Coram Nobis to clear his or her name.
This rarely used rule has no statute of limitation, so even though these cases were very old, it was not too late to try them one more time.
Peter Irons contacted Gordon, Minoru, and Fred to tell them about this option. He realized that he himself was unable to conduct all three cases. Fortunately, he was able to find other lawyers who wanted to help with the cases.
Minoru tried to have his case vacated. Sadly, he died in 1986, before his case was completed.
Korematsu hesitated at first, but when Peter showed him the evidence which proved government misconduct, he accepted. His case was vacated in 1983.
Gordon tried to have his case vacated. Fortunately, he lived long enough to succeed. His case was vacated in 1987.
This film presents and explains the history of the Coram Nobis cases.
RATINGS AND REVIEWS
What do reviewers say about this film?
On IMDb it has a rating of 89 percent, which corresponds to a rating of 4.5 stars on Amazon.
There are two user reviews on IMDb. Here are the headlines and the ratings
60 percent = An OK treatment of the subject
100 percent = Facts are presented
Three external reviews are listed on IMDb. While these reviews do not offer a specific rating, all of them are positive.
CONCLUSION
What do I think? In my opinion, this is an important film about an important topic. The legal aspect covered in the film is rather complicated, but the details are explained very well.
Regarding the user reviews on IMDb, I cannot agree with the first review which offers a low rating. I agree with the second review which offers a high rating.
I want to go all the way to the top with this product. I think it deserves a rating of five stars (100 percent).
REFERENCES
# 1. Books
** Justice at War: The Story of the Japanese Internment Cases by Peter Irons (1983)
** Justice Delayed: The Record of the Japanese American Internment Cases by Peter Irons (1989)
** The Japanese American Internment: Civil Liberties Denied by Michael Burgan (2007)
** The Japanese American Cases: The Rule of Law in Time of War by Roger Daniels (2013)
** A Principled Stand: The Story of Hirabayashi v. United States by Gordon K. Hirabayashi with James A. Hirabayashi and Lane Ryo Hirabayashi (2013) (2014)
** Enduring Conviction: Fred Korematsu and His Quest for Justice by Lorraine K. Bannai (2015) (2018)
# 2. Film and video
** Amache: Granada War Relocation Center
PBS, 56 minutes
19 June 2013
** A Bitter Legacy
Premiered in 2016
78 minutes
** Silent Sacrifice: Stories of Japanese American Incarceration in Central California and Beyond
PBS, 117 minutes
7 March 2018
** Injustice at Home
KSPS, 58 minutes
19 February 2019
** Never Give Up! Minoru Yasui
PBS, 29 minutes
12 June 2019
** Armed With Language
PBS, 57 minutes
17 May 2021
** Hidden Heroes: The Nisei Soldiers in WWII
(The History Channel) (43 minutes)
2021
** Betrayed: Surviving an American Concentration Camp
PBS, 56 minutes
8 April 2022
# 3. Items available on the internet
** Jason Maher
“Review of Alternative Facts”
VCinema
15 May 2019
** Akemi Tamanaha
“Documentary exposes fear and lies behind Japanese American incarceration”
AsAmNews
17 May 2019
Shira Laucharoen
“Alternative Facts sheds light on Japanese American internment”
Sampan
5 March 2021
** Densho Encyclopedia
A free online resource about the Japanese American experience during World War II
Online since 2012
This is a work in progress
*****
Gordon Hirabayashi
(1918-2012)
*****
Minoru Yasui
(1916-1986)
*****
Fred Korematsu
(1919-2005)
*****
Public proclamation to
Japanese Americans
1942
*****
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