Yosemite National Park
Sierra Sun Times file photo
April 27, 2017 - The Fifth Annual Law Day Yosemite will be held this year from 10:00 am until Noon, Friday, April 28, 2017, at Half Dome Village (formerly Curry village) in Yosemite Valley. It is open to the public. Entrance fees will be waived for attendees.
The first day of May is the day set aside by every President since Dwight D. Eisenhower to celebrate the rule of law and equal rights for all in this country. This year’s Law Day Yosemite theme will address a time when these principals fell by the wayside: Seventy-five years ago this year, following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Presidential directives issued led to a curfew for people, including citizens, of Japanese descent followed by the forcible relocation of some 170,000 Japanese from the West Coast to Internment camps in remote areas of California, Idaho, Arizona and other far-away places.
This year Yosemite Law Day has sponsored an essay contest on the topic of the internment. Eighth grade students from some 10 elementary schools at the gateways to Yosemite National Park have written about the lessons learned from this event. Three finalists will be selected and recognized, applauded awarded prizes—an Apple iPad, Apple watch or Apple iPod—on April 28. The best essay overall will be read. The essays will have been judged for understanding of the subject, originality of thought, argumentation and organization.
Law Day Yosemite 2017 will also host students from Sacramento’s Florin High School Law Academy, 70 homeschooled students and teachers form the Sacramento area, inner city youth from Fresno and from East Palo Alto. We expect approximately 400 attendees to enjoy presentations by the Honorable A. Wallace Tashima, Senior Judge of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and Reverend Sabado Masada and his wife, Marion Masada, Fresnans who travel across the country to address the internment with students. All three were interned as children.
The commemoration will begin with music from the award-winning Mariposa High School Marching Band and introduction of attending state and federal judges and other dignitaries. The National Park Service Mounted Ranger Horse Patrol will present the colors, followed by a beautiful solo rendition of the National Anthem, and Yosemite first graders will lead all in the Pledge of Allegiance. One of a kind designed Law Day lapel pins, snacks and lunches will be provided for all students.
Law Day Yosemite is sponsored by the San Joaquin Valley Chapter of the Federal Bar Association, in conjunction with the Park Concessionaire, Yosemite Hospitality LLC, and the National Park Service. The public is invited. For more information, please contact Carol Moses, carol@yosemitelawyer.com or call (559) 449-9069.
Source: NPS
