Dale Minami
The American Bar Association (ABA) announced on June 17 that it will honor Dale Minami, a lifelong champion of the civil rights of Asian Pacific Americans and other minorities, with the ABA Medal—the association’s highest honor.
Minami is best known for leading the legal team that overturned the conviction of Fred Korematsu, an American of Japanese descent who was arrested for refusing to enter an internment center in 1942. His case led to the historic challenge of the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II in the case Korematsu v. United States.
Minami, a San Francisco attorney, received a B.A. in political science from the University of Southern California in 1968 and his J.D. in 1971 from Boalt Hall School of Law, University of California.