Minoru Yasui

Minoru Yasui was a Japanese-American lawyer and civil rights activist known for challenging the U.S. government's wartime curfew on Japanese Americans during World War II. In 1942, he deliberately broke the curfew to test its constitutionality, becoming a plaintiff in a landmark case. His actions and subsequent legal battles helped validate the principle that Japanese Americans had rights protected under the Constitution, even during wartime. Yasui’s efforts contributed to the eventual recognition of the injustices faced by Japanese Americans and emphasized the importance of protecting civil liberties during national crises.