Biography

After earning her J.D., Professor Bannai was a partner with the San Francisco firm of Minami, Lew & Tamaki. While in practice, she was part of the legal team in Korematsu v. United States, an action that successfully challenged Mr. Korematsu's conviction for violating military orders removing Japanese Americans from the West Coast during World War II. Prior to joining the Seattle University faculty in 1996, Professor Bannai directed the academic support program at the University of California, Berkeley, Boalt Hall School of Law; taught at the University of San Francisco, the John F. Kennedy, and the New College of California Schools of Law; and was a visiting associate professor in Western Washington University's Law and Diversity Program. She has written and spoken widely on the issue of the wartime Japanese American incarceration, including her biography of Fred Korematsu, Enduring Conviction: Fred Korematsu and His Quest for Justice.