State Senator Richard Pan addressing the California State Senate on behalf of SJR 12. Photo: Lorie Shelley
The California State Senate voted 38-0 to pass SJR 12, a Joint Resolution supporting nominating Mitsuye Endo for the Presidential Medal of Freedom. The resolution will now go to the California State Assembly where it has been co-sponsored by nine State Assembly Members. A vote is expected in August.
Mitsuye Endo
Endo was one of four plaintiffs who challenged the constitutionality of the Japanese American incarceration during World War II. She won a unanimous U.S. Supreme Court decision in late 1944 that led to the closing of the camps and allowed Japanese Americans to begin returning to the west coast. (end)