Litigation

In Memory of Judge Sandra Otaka

By Bert Brandenburg

Justice at Stake is saddened to lose one of its board members, Cook County Circuit Judge Sandra Otaka, who passed away June 6.   She was a third-generation Japanese-American whose mother and grandparents were held in U.S. internment camps during World War II.  As a law student, she worked with a legal team to overturn the conviction of Fred Korematsu, a Japanese-American shipyard worker jailed in 1944 for failing to report to an internment camp.  Judge Otaka was the first Asian American Circuit Court judge to be elected to the bench. She was well-known in Chicago and national Asian-American circles, but served with only one national organization?the Justice at Stake Campaign.  She cared deeply about justice, and worked especially hard to promote diversity on the bench.  We miss her dearly, and extend our sympathies to her family and friends.  Her obituary can be found here.

Full post as published by The Gavel on June 09, 2009 (boomark / email).