Illinois 2025-2026 Regular Session

Illinois House Bill HJR0005 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

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3	3	1 HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION
4	4	2 WHEREAS, The people of Illinois seek to uphold the values
5	5	3 that make the United States and the State of Illinois great,
6	6	4 those of freedom, opportunity, equal justice under law for
7	7	5 all, and all civil liberties enshrined in the United States
8	8	6 and Illinois Constitutions; and
9	9	7 WHEREAS, Anti-immigrant sentiment and anti-immigrant
10	10	8 extremism have factored into discrimination against Asian
11	11	9 Americans and other marginalized people throughout our history
12	12	10 and caused real harm to individuals and communities; and
13	13	11 WHEREAS, The people and the State of Illinois have a duty
14	14	12 to uphold our founding values and actively work to learn from
15	15	13 our history and prevent the mistakes and tragedies of our
16	16	14 past, including the unconstitutional use of executive orders
17	17	15 to deny the guaranteed rights of citizenship; and
18	18	16 WHEREAS, It is most appropriate and necessary to
19	19	17 commemorate those incredible individuals who have defended
20	20	18 civil liberties and resisted oppression within our great
21	21	19 nation; and
22	22	20 WHEREAS, An assault on civil liberties was launched on
23	23	21 February 19, 1942 when President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed
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32	32	1 Executive Order No. 9066, authorizing the internment of all
33	33	2 people of Japanese descent in the United States; under the
34	34	3 order, those of Japanese ancestry, many American citizens,
35	35	4 were subject to a curfew, ordered to submit to imprisonment,
36	36	5 and placed in American internment camps without trial, access
37	37	6 to legal counsel, or notice of any criminal charges; and
38	38	7 WHEREAS, Fred T. Korematsu of Oakland, California
39	39	8 valiantly refused to comply with these directives in an
40	40	9 admirable display of civil disobedience and continued to
41	41	10 proudly live his life as a free American citizen; he was
42	42	11 subsequently arrested and tried for refusing to comply with
43	43	12 Civilian Exclusion Order No. 34, which was authorized by
44	44	13 Executive Order No. 9066, and he was sent to Topaz internment
45	45	14 camp in Utah; and
46	46	15 WHEREAS, Fred Korematsu, in a selfless act of sacrifice,
47	47	16 agreed to be the representative for those wrongfully
48	48	17 imprisoned and appealed his case with the help of Earnest
49	49	18 Besig of the American Civil Liberties Union; the case was
50	50	19 heard by the United States Supreme Court; and
51	51	20 WHEREAS, The Supreme Court upheld the decision to imprison
52	52	21 Fred Korematsu in a 6-3 ruling, as well as the
53	53	22 constitutionality of discrimination against a racial group as
54	54	23 justified under conditions of war; that decision remains a
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65	65	1 stain upon civil liberties and American values of equal
66	66	2 protection under law; his conviction was overturned via a writ
67	67	3 of error coram nobis on November 10, 1983 by the United States
68	68	4 District Court of Northern California; the Supreme Court
69	69	5 decision has yet to be challenged; and
70	70	6 WHEREAS, Fred Korematsu and his legal team appealed to
71	71	7 overturn his conviction, inspiring the Civil Liberties Act of
72	72	8 1988, which was signed into law by President Ronald Reagan and
73	73	9 which formally apologized to those wrongfully incarcerated
74	74	10 under Executive Order No. 9066 and acknowledged the order was
75	75	11 issued because of "racial prejudice, wartime hysteria, and a
76	76	12 failure of political leadership"; he was later awarded the
77	77	13 Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Bill Clinton, the
78	78	14 highest honor awarded to a civilian who has admirably served
79	79	15 the interests of the nation; and
80	80	16 WHEREAS, Fred Korematsu continued throughout his life to
81	81	17 raise his voice for the voiceless and defend the defenseless
82	82	18 in solidarity with those denied civil liberties, including
83	83	19 speaking out against the solitary confinement of an American
84	84	20 Muslim man in a United States military prison without trial;
85	85	21 and
86	86	22 WHEREAS, Fred Korematsu passed away on March 30, 2005;
87	87	23 today, the Fred Korematsu Institute works to educate people
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98	98	1 about his life story and the importance of civil liberties;
99	99	2 the institute also aims to promote awareness of his life and
100	100	3 work by schools, the general public, and state and federal
101	101	4 legislators of his life with the observation of his birthdate,
102	102	5 January 30, as Fred T. Korematsu Day of Civil Liberties and the
103	103	6 Constitution; therefore, be it
104	104	7 RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE
105	105	8 HUNDRED FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE
106	106	9 SENATE CONCURRING HEREIN, that we commend Fred T. Korematsu
107	107	10 for his courageous efforts for civil liberties; and be it
108	108	11 further
109	109	12 RESOLVED, That we honor the legacy of Fred Korematsu, his
110	110	13 institute, and his children who work so diligently to educate
111	111	14 the public by encouraging schools and institutes of higher
112	112	15 learning throughout the State of Illinois to incorporate his
113	113	16 story and valiant stand for American values of justice into
114	114	17 their curriculum; and be it further
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