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Ex parte Endo (1944)
James Purcell was an attorney who visited the Tanforan Assembly Center (a Japanese internment camp on the West Coast) after agreeing to take the pro bono case of a number of Japanese Americans who had been fired by the state of CA. Purcell was shocked to discover the conditions in the assembly centers were worse than in prison, which motivated him to sue for the release of Japanese Americans. Anticipating that a case challenging the firings of state employees on the basis of race would be dismissed, Purcell instead pursued a habeas corpus lawsuit. Purcell felt that a habeas corpus case challenging the constitutionality of interning loyal citizens without providing due process would be more successful than a criminal case challenging the race-based restrictions created by the military. As you read, consider how the case may have been different had the alternate argument been made.
Patrick Johnston Papers, “Correspondence on Endo Case,” California State Archives Exhibits, <http://exhibits.sos.ca.gov/items/show/10674>.
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