The Nation - News from June 18, 1985

The government was dealt an early setback in its case to justify why 120,000 Japanese-Americans were put under curfew and evacuation orders during World War II. U.S. District Judge John Voorhees ruled in Seattle against the government’s request to submit hundreds of wartime military documents relating to fears of a possible Japanese attack on the West Coast in the months following the bombing of Pearl Harbor. The case involves Gordon Hirabayashi, one of three Japanese-Americans to be convicted of curfew and evacuation violations during World War II. He is seeking to have his convictions vacated.