Reading Room Document

Eligibility of Involuntary Wartime Relocatees to Japan for Redress Under the Civil Liberties Act of 1988

The proposed Department of Justice change in its interpretation of the Civil Liberties Act of 1988 to extend redress under the Act to minors who accompanied their parents to Japan during World War II and to adults who are able to show that their relocation to Japan during that period was involuntary is a reasonable and permissible interpretation of the statute. Although an agency interpretation that has been modified or reversed is likely to receive less deference by a reviewing court than a consistent and contemporaneous interpretation, the fact of modification does not preclude the court from granting deference to the new interpretation. The OLC does not provide release dates for its opinions, so the release date listed is the date on which the opinion was authored. The original opinion is available at www.justice.gov/file/20351/download.

May 10, 1994