Our Work
In keeping with the spirit of its namesake, the Fred T. Korematsu Center for Law and Equality seeks to create a more just and equitable society through being involved in litigation advocacy to advance racial justice, providing law students with real-world experiences to help them become agents for social change, and researching and publishing reports and articles about racial justice issues.Click here for a comprehensive list of the Korematsu Center’s work from 2009-2024 at the Seattle University School of Law.
Advocacy
Direct Representation
The Korematsu Center has engaged in merits-impact litigation on behalf of:
- High school students in Tucson who challenged Arizona’s ethnic studies ban in González v. Douglas, 269 F. Supp. 3d 948 (D. Ariz. 2017).
- Black Lives Matter Seattle-King County and individual plaintiffs challenging the City of Seattle’s use of force against those protesting police violence against Black people.
- A Chinese-American businessowner challenging two Arkansas laws restricting foreign ownership of agricultural land and ownership in data centers in Arkansas.
Executive Overreach
The Korematsu Center has submitted amicus curiae briefs, or friends of the court briefs, in cases around the country as part of a broader advocacy strategy against executive overreach, or the expansion of presidential power beyond what is constitutionally permissable.
Some representative briefs include:
- Submitting a brief on behalf of members of Congress in Noem v. National TPS Alliance, arguing that the Executive Branch’s interpretation of the TPS statute overreaches its authority and undermines both congressional and judicial oversight.
- Supporting a challenge to the Executive Order restricting birthright citizenship in State of Washington v. Donald Trump.
- Challenging recent Executive Orders that aim to punish law firms for providing pro bono legal services disfavored by the current administration in support of law firms Perkins Coie, WilmerHale, Jenner & Block, and Susman Godfrey.
- Supporting a challenge to the Muslim travel ban in Trump v. Hawaii.
- Supporting a challenge to the government’s recission of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program in DHS v. Regents of California.
- Challenging the Department of Commerce’s addition of a citizenship question to the decennial census.
Race & the Criminal Legal System
Racial biases are deeply embedded in the criminal justice system and contribute to disparities in arrest, incarceration, and sentencing rates, with people of color disproportionality affected. Through filing amicus curiae briefs in cases across the country, the Korematsu Center challenges these systemic racial disparities and advocates for equality.
Some representative briefs include:
- Filing briefs to challenge felony murder laws in Pennsylvania and New York arguing these laws disproportionately target young men of color.
- Informing the Washington State Supreme Court in State v. Gregory that in-group favoritism is an important, often overlooked mechanism that produces racial disproportionality in capital cases.
- Challenging Washington state’s juvenile sentencing.
Miscellaneous
Examples of other issues Center has worked on include:
- Filing an amicus brief urging the Supreme Court to consider potential discrimination in the TikTok, Inc. v. Garland and Firebaugh v. Garland hearings.
- Arguing for public access to dependency proceedings in Civil Rights Corps. v. Walker.
Education
- UCI Law Pro Bono Project. The Korematsu Center provides UCI Law students pro bono opportunities to assist with its work.
- Immigrant & Racial Justice Solidarity Clinic (IRJSC). One of the law school’s core clinics, this clinic, affiliated with the Korematsu Center, is directed by Professor Annie Lai.
- Korematsu Center Teaching Fellowship. This two-year fellowship is designed to help prepare an aspiring law professor to enter the legal academy. Funded by an endowment established by generous donors, a search for the inaugural fellow will be conducted in late Fall 2025 into early Winter 2026 to identify a candidate who will teach and engage in scholarship and advocacy consistent with the Korematsu Center’s mission.
Knowledge
The Korematsu Center publishes reports about racial justice issues as part of its commitment to reform.
Some representative reports include:
- Preliminary Report on Race and Washington's Criminal Justice System (2011)
- Race and Washington’s Criminal Justice System 2021: Report to the Washington Supreme Court (2021)