Article, Remembering the Honorable Raymond S. Uno

• Publication year: 2024
• Citation: Vol. 37 No. 4 Pg. 18
• Pages: 18

Article, Remembering The Honorable Raymond S. Uno Vol. 37 No. 4 Pg. 18 Utah Bar Journal July 2024

Remembering The Honorable Raymond S. Uno

by The Honorable Augustus G. Chin

The Honorable Raymond S. Uno was a judge for all seasons. His carbon footprint is forever etched in Utah history because of his accomplishments as a judge, lawyer, civil rights advocate, military service member, and human being. Judge Uno made a significant difference - especially within the legal profession to the many whom he encouraged, offered support, and mentored.

Judge Uno considered himself an average person. However, an examination of his life during his ninety-three years confirms that he was by no means average. Retired Third District Judge Tyrone E Medley describes Judge Uno as not just a role model, but an extraordinary person who treated everyone with respect and dignity, and who was a positive influence on many including himself as he joined the small number of minority judges in Utah. When asked about Judge Uno, Chief Justice Matthew Durrant of the Utah Supreme Court said:

Judge Uno has been an inspiration to many minority attorneys and judges. He was a genuine pioneer in the fight for equal opportunity. His courage, his commitment, his dedication to fairness and justice is legendary. We in the judiciary and the citizens of our great state owe him an enormous debt of gratitude.

Raymond Sonji Uno was born on December 4, 1930 in Ogden, Utah. He and his family were incarcerated for three-and-a-half years during World War II at the Heart Mountain Wyoming Concentration Camp. His father, Clarence Hachiro Uno, passed away during his family's first year at the Heart Mountain Internment Camp in Wyoming. In a 2013 interview with Wyoming Public Media, Judge Uno said:

My father was an American citizen, he was a veteran of World War I, active in the American Legion - to me, a very loyal American. That was something I really didn't understand until I went to college and started taking constitutional law, and going through

law school and going through all the different kind of cases that something like this could happen in America to Americans, and that is something I have been working on so it wouldn't happen to anybody else.

He joined the U.S Army in 1948. Upon completion of basic training at Fort Ord, California, he was assigned to the Military Intelligence Language School (now known as the Defense Language Institute) in Monterey, California...