[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 31 (Tuesday, February 28, 2012)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E271]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     IN RECOGNITION OF DALE MINAMI

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. JACKIE SPEIER

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, February 28, 2012

  Ms. SPEIER. Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor Dale Minami who today is 
receiving the 2011 Silver Spur Award from San Francisco Planning and 
Urban Research (SPUR). This award recognizes a lifetime of civic 
achievement of a San Franciscan.
  Mr. Minami is one of the country's preeminent attorneys recognized 
for his civil rights leadership. He is best known for heading the legal 
team in Korematsu v. United States, the legendary Supreme Court case 
that overturned the wrongful criminal conviction of Fred Korematsu who 
refused internment during World War II.
  Mr. Minami is a personal injury attorney with Minami Tamaki LLP and 
has made significant contributions to the advancement of the rights of 
Asian-Americans. Minami is a co-founder of the Asian Law Caucus, the 
Asian-American Bar Association of the Greater Bay Area, the Asian 
Pacific Bar of California and the Coalition of Asian-Pacific Americans.
  Other landmark decisions he was involved in include United Filipinos 
for Affirmative Action v. California Blue Shield, the first class 
action employment lawsuit brought by Asian-Pacific Americans on behalf 
of Asian-Pacific Americans; Spokane JACL v. Washington State University 
which established an Asian American Studies program at the Washington 
State University; and Nakanishi v. UCLA, a claim for unfair denial of 
tenure which resulted in the granting of tenure after multiple hearings 
and widespread publicity over discrimination in academia.
  Mr. Minami has been involved in the judicial appointment process and 
in public policy. He was a member of the California Fair Employment and 
Housing Commission and chaired the California Attorney General's Asian 
Pacific Advisory Committee. He served as a commissioner on the 
California State Bar Association's Commission on Judicial Nominees' 
Evaluation and Senator Barbara Boxer's Judicial Screening Committee. 
President Clinton appointed him chair of the Civil Liberties Public 
Education Fund in 1996. Mr. Minami specializes in personal injury and 
entertainment law and has represented well known clients such as Kristi 
Yamaguchi, Philip Kan Gotanda and Steven Okazaki. He is counsel to the 
Asian American Journalists Association and has also represented many of 
San Francisco's best known faces on television, including Sydnie 
Kohara, Lawrence Karnow, Vic Lee, Heather Ishimaru and David Louie.
  He received his B.A. in Political Science from the University of 
Southern California in 1968 and his J.D. from Boalt Hall School of Law 
at UC Berkeley in 1971. He was admitted to the California Bar in 1972. 
In 1982, he was admitted to practice in the U.S. Supreme Court.
  Among his many awards and recognitions, Mr. Minami received the 
American Bar Association's 2003 Thurgood Marshall Award, the 2003 ACLU 
Civil Liberties Award, and the State Bar President's Pro Bono Service 
Award. A dormitory at UC Santa Cruz was named Queen Liliuokalani-Minami 
Dormitory. Mr. Speaker, I ask this body to rise with me to acknowledge 
Dale Minami's extraordinary work and lasting contributions to justice 
and equality in the Asian American community and our community at 
large.

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