Starts with a panel at 2:00 pm on Friday, with Zoot Suit shown at 5:30pm, and conference panel presentations on Saturday from 9:00 am to 6:00 pm followed by a reception.  Free!

History of the The Sleepy Lagoon Case

Over sixty years ago, the Second District Court of Appeal released twelve defendants from prison in the famous Sleepy Lagoon trial. The proceedings of this case ( People v. Zammora ) took place, much like today, within the context of war-time anxiety and hysteria. One hundred twenty thousand Japanese-Americans (two-thirds of whom where U.S. citizens) were detained and put into internment camps in February 1942. Several months later, a young Mexican national named José Diaz was found dead in Southern California . Local media outlets, most notably the Hearst-owned Herald-Express and The Los Angeles Times , blamed Diaz’s death on a “crime wave” led by Mexican American “zoot-suiters” or “ pachucas/os .” The well-known writer, lawyer, and civil rights activist Carey McWilliams noted the links between these issues—World War II, the Japanese-American internment, and the anti-Mexican backlash—“in Los Angeles, where fantasy is a way of life, it was a foregone conclusion that Mexicans would be substituted as the major scapegoat group once the Japanese were removed.”

More than six hundred youth (most of them Mexican American) were arrested after Diaz’s death. Many were detained for the clothes that they wore or their general appearance. Some claimed that such “racial profiling” was necessary for national security because they believed Mexican American “zoot-suiters” had established “fifth column” (pro-fascist) groups within the United States . Twenty-two youths were eventually subject to a mass trial, complete with an all-white jury. Three were convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison; nine were convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to five-to-life; and five were convicted of assault and released for time served. The defendants began serving their sentences in January 1943.

Defense attorneys (Ben Margolis, Selma Bachelis, and others) immediately appealed this decision on various grounds, most notably, the fact that the defendants were not allowed to speak or confer with counsel during the trial’s proceedings. The defendants were also not allowed to change their clothes and the judge (Charles G. Fricke) repeatedly overruled defense attorney objections and personally ridiculed them. Blatantly racist testimony also played a key role in the trial’s outcome.

The appeal process lasted nearly two years. During the trial, labor activist La Rue McCormick established an ad-hoc committee to publicize the events surrounding the case. After the defendants were sentenced, that organization was re-organized and became known as the Sleepy Lagoon Defense Committee (SLDC) with Carey McWilliams as its chair. The SLDC was a multi-racial, local, grass-roots coalition that included Mexican Americans, whites, and blacks. Defendant family members, Hollywood celebrities, labor officials, and radical political activists (among others) made up the committee. The left, labor, Jewish, Mexican, and black presses (alternative, “non-mainstream” media outlets) covered the trial, the appeal, and the SLDC’s activities. As the war was winding down, Judge Clement Nye dismissed the charges, citing “insufficient evidence,” against the Sleepy Lagoon defendants on October 23, 1944.