Race, Murder and Criminal Prosecution in Wartime Denver

• Publication year: 2003
• Pages: 56
• Citation: Vol. 32 No. 7 Pg. 56

32 Colo.Law. 56 Colorado Lawyer 2003.

2003, July, Pg. 56. Race, Murder and Criminal Prosecution in Wartime Denver

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Vol. 32, No. 7, Pg. 56

The Colorado Lawyer
July 2003
Vol. 32, No. 7 [Page 56]

Departments
Historical Perspectives
Race, Murder and Criminal Prosecution in Wartime Denver
by Tom I. Romero, II

This historical perspective was written by Tom I. Romero II Western Legal Studies Fellow, University of Colorado-Boulder ttromero@colorado.edu

On May 4, 1942, a startling headline dominated the front page of the Rocky Mountain News: "Denver Jap Butchers Wife in Hotel Lobby." [Rocky Mountain News (May 4, 1942).] In vivid detail, Denverites discovered how George Honda, "a 37 year old Japanese American restaurant operator, slashed his wife to death . . . then attempted to commit hara-kiri with the blood drenched weapon." In reporting the violent act, the Denver paper painted a vivid portrait of murder that rocked a rapidly changing wartime city.

During World War II, Denver and Colorado experienced a major increase of Japanese Americans and Japanese aliens as a result of forced relocation from the West Coast of the United States. Early in the war, the War Relocation Authority adopted regulations to encourage "able-bodied [Japanese Americans] with good records" to move to Denver, Boulder, and other Colorado towns. [Atkins, Human Relations in Colorado: A Historical Record (Denver, CO: Publishers Press, 1968) at 121).] However, many Coloradans feared such a policy. As one columnist in The Denver Post declared:

The Japs are naturally a treacherous race. Neither [the War Relocation Authority] nor anybody else knows what is going on in their heads. There were a lot of Japs out in California when the war started who were supposed to be loyal citizens of the United States. And they were all set to betray this country, if they got the chance. [The Denver Post (March 17, 1944).]

Although such images were by no means new, they directly influenced the legal experiences of Japanese Americans moving into Colorado. In one case, some Coloradans even attempted to amend the Colorado Constitution to prevent Japanese aliens from purchasing and owning real estate in the state. Although the measure was barely defeated in 1944, Japanese Americans were in many cases barred from public discussion of the amendment.

It was in this atmosphere that the City and County...