November 1983
U.S. District Court Judge Marilyn Patel grants Korematsu writ of coram nobis and issues a decision which vacated Korematsu's conviction in 1944.
Based on research and discovery of documents by Peter Irons and Aiko Herzig-Yoshinaga showing government suppression of evidence, Irons and Dale Minami organized a team of lawyers to petition the courts to reopen the Fred Korematsu, Gordon Hirabayashi, and MinoruYasui cases based on writ of coram nobis. The team decided to file three separate petitions in the court of origin. Minami argued before Judge Patel that the government official suppressed, altered and destroyed information and evidence presented to the Supreme Court. On November 10, 1983, Judge Patel agreed and acknowledged the "fundamental error" which vacated the earlier Korematsu case but did not reverse the Supreme Court's decision of 1944 (only the Supreme Court can reverse its own decisions).